Chuck Versus NCIS
by kisa-kara-chan
Summary: **DISCONTINUED DUE TO BOTH LACK OF INTEREST & LAZINESS** Sequel to Chuck Versus the Unrequited Love. Crossover with NCIS. Who's responsible for blowing up the plane? Team Bartowski meets the NCIS team to figure it out. Can Casey pull through this? What's Bryce's secret? Full summary and pairings inside.
1. Prologue: Seperate Pieces of a Puzzle

**HELLO THERE CHUCK AND NCIS FANS (and my cheerful and happy previous-story-lovers, most of all!!!)! **

**I didn't want to make this count as a crossover thing even though it is cause no one really ever looks in the crossover files...**

**This is the long (not that long, actually) awaited sequel to Chuck Versus the Unrequited Love. If you have NOT read the first "book", here's the link to copy after : /****s/4981570/1/Chuck_Versus_the_Unrequited_Love**

**FULL SUMMARY: It's been two weeks after Lara's plane exploded over the Pacific ocean, and Team Bartowski is still a little shaken, especially Casey. Director Vance of NCIS alerts General Beckman of the NSA and Director Clark of the CIA of a murder that may be linked to Lara Clark's murder. Lara's murder is more important at this time and so General Beckman orders Team Bartowski to take the first flight to Washington, DC to join up with the NCIS Major Case Response Team. It turns out that Tony DiNozzo actually had relations and past encounters with Lara, and CIA Bryce Larkin is called in to help the case, towing along his new CIA girlfriend. What complications are going to arise? Why does it seem that Bryce and his new girlfriend know more than they let on? Who REALLY killed Agent Clark? To find the answer, read on... Just one more thing, Casey may even lose his temper when he's accused of killing his girlfriend.**

**PAIRINGS: CaseyxLara fluff (through memories), ChuckxSarah (Charah), BrycexEmma(OC), TonyxZiva (Tiva) fluff, and McGeexAbby (Tibby) fluff.**

**Disclaimer: Chuck and NCIS do not belong to me  
Claimer: Everything ELSE, however, DOES belong to me**

**PLEASE R&R! (PS, this prologue MIGHT be a little boring with all the introductory things which I will not bother to explain) **

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Prologue: Separate Pieces of a Puzzle

"Director Clark, General Beckman," Director Leon Vance of NCIS greeted, "It's good to see you both again."

The two leaders nodded as the three were having a conversation through their plasma screen satellite uplink.

"Is there a problem, Leon?" Diane Beckman of the NSA inquired, "Meetings like this are not frequent."

"There is, in fact," Director Vance replied, "And it involves both of your agencies. Just this morning, a former marine was found dead in Burbank's International Airport in California. The case is being handed over to the NCIS Major Case Response Team, and it appears that this case may be linked to the explosion of jet JW-7638 one week ago."

Director Chris Clark's face looked slightly pained with that last mention. "Yes, the explosion that killed Agent Lara Clark, my younger sister," he added, a slight hint of pain in his voice.

Vance looked surprised. "I'm sorry to hear that, Director. I'm afraid Agent Clark may have played a huge part in this. In any case, do you have any agents that may have been particularly close or may have known Agent Clark well? I believe I have met her once; she was a fine young agent. Perhaps we could also discover who arranged her murder at the same time," he said.

They both nodded.

"Yes," Chris answered, "Beckman and I each have an agent currently located in Burbank, California, protecting an asset. They were the last people who worked with Agent Clark before her death. They are Agent Sarah Walker and Major John Casey. Civilian Charles Irving Bartowski was also a good friend of Agent Clark's as they had worked together in the electronics store known as 'Buy More', so he should know a fair bit too."

"I'll send them to Washington immediately to work with your team. Together the pieces of this puzzle may finally reveal the true picture within," General Beckman informed.

Vance gave a single nod in approval. "Is there anyone else who perhaps knew Agent Clark well?" he queried.

A silence filled the room, with the exception of the working technology, before Director Clark of the CIA answered, "There is one other who has worked with Agent Clark in the past. His name is Agent Bryce Larkin, but I believe he is currently on a mission in San Francisco. I will contact him to see if he is able to head over to Washington."

"Excellent. When should they be arriving?" Director Vance asked.

"Within the next day or two," General Beckman answered, "Until next time, I bid you two farewell."

"Goodbye," Director Clark added, and the connection was cut. _I'll get Gibbs' team right on this case,_ he thought as he left the room, heading down towards the Major Case Response Team, _Maybe they can dig up some information before the agents get here. At the moment it seems that figuring out who killed Agent Clark is more important than figuring out about this dead former marine. Perhaps these two cases are connected more than I thought._

"Morning, Director," Timothy McGee and Ziva David greeted as they saw him coming down the stairwell.

"Morning, McGee, Officer David," he replied automatically, "I need you to bring up a file for me on the screen. Agent Lara Clark of the Central Intelligence Agency."

"On it, Sir," Tim said, typing quickly into his computer as Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo walked onto the floor from the elevator.

"Morning, team," he greeted cheerfully, his short brown hair spiked up at the front like always, wearing his black suit, "Morning Director." He sat down at his desk.

"Good morning, DiNozzo," Director Vance replied sternly, turning to the rest of the team, "You've got a big case today. It deals with a murder of a former marine in Burbank's International Airport, and the murder may have been connected to the explosion of jet JW-7638 just last week."

"I heard about that," Ziva commented, thinking, "Wasn't everyone on the plane killed?"

"Yes," he answered, "One of them was a CIA agent." As he said this, McGee pulled Lara's file onto the plasma screen between Tony and his desks. "Agent Lara Clark."

Tony's eyes widened as he recognized the picture of the woman with long black hair and stunning golden eyes. "L-Lara's _dead_?" he breathed.

"Wait, Tony, you _know_ this woman?" McGee demanded, surprise written all over his face.

The agent nodded, his green eyes grave. "She was my best friend," he answered quietly, as Leroy Jethro Gibbs walked by to join his team.

"Gear up team," Gibbs added, straightening out his grey suit. Placing a hand on his Senior Field Agent's shoulder, he gave him a look, and Tony nodded.

_In Burbank, California..._

It had been a week since Lara's death, and her lover and boyfriend, Major John Casey of the NSA, was still slightly stunned about the news. He didn't allow anyone else to see his weakness, but he would let his emotions break when he was alone in his apartment. He had truly cared for her a lot, and it was hard on him to hear of her death. But he knew what's done is done and there was nothing he could do to change that.

Now he, Agent Sarah Walker, and Mr. Chuck Bartowski were down in the Castle, their secret hideout right underneath a frozen yogurt shop known as the Orange Orange. They were apparently called down for a meeting with General Diane Beckman.

The General's face appeared on screen, and she greeted, "Good morning, Team Bartowski. You have a new mission. You're all flying over to Washington, DC to join up with the NCIS Major Case Response Team to investigate Agent Clark's murder. According to Leon Vance, the Director of NCIS, her murder may be related to the murder of a former marine the same day her plane exploded."

Casey's face remained neutral and impassive. "Very well," he said, "We'll board the next flight to DC as soon as we can."

The TV screen went black, and Chuck turned to the Major. "Casey, not to pry or anything, but... how and where did you two meet? You seemed very close to her, and very, _very _protective of her."

He sighed, seeing how it didn't really matter anymore since she was gone. "We met underneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. I was there to meet up with a CIA contact, as she was to meet up with an NSA contact. Turns out each other were the contacts. Our mission was to investigate a large drug dealing organization and hopefully be able to shut it down. That was our very first mission together and well... things went on from there."

"Casey, is it just me, or are you actually being non-aggressive for a change?" Chuck inquired, "This is like, the second time now. The first was after you met Ilsa again after thinking her dead for a few years."

"Well..." Sarah answered for him, "Both of them have really changed him, they've seen a side that's _not _the cold-hearted assassin."

"Can it, Walker!" Casey growled, his anger returning, "You and Bartowski better start packing 'cause we're catching the first flight after noon."

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**Hope you liked this prologue! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Meet the NCIS Team

**Okay, here's the next chapter for Chuck Versus NCIS! I hope you like it! Wow... 4 reviews, 4 alerts and 1 fav already. O_O... high standards here. I'm swimming in dangerous waters. lol, I just hope I meet these standards! If not... I'M SORRY!!! Suggestions and little side notes would be great on how I can improve and what already IS good so I know I don't have to change that. **

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
Claimer: Everything else (c) me**

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Chapter One: Meet the NCIS Team

Chuck made up an excuse to Ellie and Devon and he was going with Sarah for an immediate vacation to Washington, and both believed him.

He, Sarah and Casey took the 12:45 PM flight to Washington in Business Class, and only both Sarah and Casey got decent sleep. Chuck, however, had to actually _put_ himself to sleep by stabbing himself with a tranquilizer. Of course, he did this while Sarah and Casey were both asleep.

Soon enough, they arrived in Washington, DC, and immediately they took a cab to NCIS headquarters after dropping off their belongings at their nearby hotel.

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When they arrived on the main floor after receiving security clearance and everything, they were greeted by Director Vance right outside the elevator.

"Hello, you must be the agents from California," he greeted, "I'm Director Leon Vance."

"Nice to meet you, Sir," Sarah greeted in return, "I'm Agent Sarah Walker, this is my partner Major John Casey, and this is Chuck Bartowski."

"I hope you've had a good flight," he said, leading them over to the team, "This is the NCIS Major Case Response Team. I'll leave you all alone now to get started."

Gibbs stood up from his desk and walked over to them. "Special Agent Gibbs," he introduced, shaking their hands, "This is my team; Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee, and this is Officer Ziva David."

"Major John Casey," Casey introduced, "My partner Sarah Walker and moron Chuck Bartowski."

"Hey!" Chuck replied, "That hurt!"

"So you guys were friends of Agent Lara Clark?" Tony inquired, leaning back on his chair.

Casey's eyes looked Tony over and he smirked. "So _you're_ the Anthony DiNozzo that Lara's been talking about?" he commented.

"What? She's talked about me before?" the senior field agent retorted.

"Yeah, said you were a loudmouth and can be a real moron sometimes," he answered.

Both McGee and Ziva laughed.

"That's Tony, all right," Ziva agreed, "Now, I hope you guys aren't too exhausted with your flight."

They shook their heads.

"Then let's get started," Gibbs said, turning back over to his desk, "What do you know about Agent Clark?"

Sarah decided to answer that one. "She was a CIA agent like me. We've never actually worked on any missions together until recently when she came to Burbank," she explained, "I've heard a bit about her and her reputation, but I never actually met her before until Burbank."

"She was one damn good CIA agent," Casey added, his voice gruff, "We've worked together before, and as a cover, she was my girlfriend. Our first meeting was in France, and from there, our relationship proceeded. It had been a few years since I actually seen her, but we were reunited in California."

"She was a good friend," Chuck began, "I didn't meet her until she started working at the Buy More, and found out that she was living with Casey. Didn't know a lot about her-"

"You got any _important_ information, Mr. Bartowski?" Gibbs hissed with an edge to his voice.

Casey couldn't help but smile. _I think this guy is gonna be a great friend. He shuts Bartowski up just as easy as I do,_ he thought.

"Um... handler," the nerd answered, a bit frightened by the NCIS boss' easy rage. _Kinda reminds me of Casey,_ he thought. "She saved my life just about three weeks ago because I'm this information keeper," he added, not wanting to reveal the fact that he was the Intersect.

"Okay, so it's confirmed that five people have close connections with the deceased," Ziva announced.

Team Bartowski was a bit taken aback.

"Five?" Sarah queried, "Who are the other two?"

"CIA agent Bryce Larkin, and our very own very special agent Anthony DiNozzo," Tim answered, grinning over at Tony, who shook his head at him in return.

"B-Bryce?" Chuck breathed, "Bryce is here?"

"Agent Larkin is here in DC, and he will be arriving shortly. Apparently he was tipped off about a woman that may know who sabotaged Agent Clark's plane," Gibbs explained, "So he went there to investigate. He should be coming in directly after visit to the hotel he's staying at."

As if on cue, the elevator dinged and CIA Agent Bryce Larkin walked over to him in a black suit, his hair neatly brushed back and his arm slipped with a woman's. The woman with him had long, luscious brunette hair which curled at the end, her physique was that of similar to Lara's, with smooth curves and long legs. Her eyes were blue, and there seemed to be a twinkle in them. She was wearing a light purple V-neck short-sleeved blouse, with dark blue jeans that complimented her slender legs. An aquamarine teardrop pendant hung from a silver chain on her neck.

"Hey Bryce," Chuck greeted rather nervously. He knew that the CIA agent and Sarah had a romantic history together, but his fears were further put to rest when he noted that the woman beside the agent laid her head against his arm.

"Hello Chuck," Larkin greeted before turning to Gibbs, "You must be Special Agent Gibbs. I'm CIA Agent Bryce Larkin and this is my contact and girlfriend, undercover CIA Agent Emma Parks."

Gibbs dipped his head in acknowledgement. "You find anything on Agent Clark?" he implored, cutting right into the point.

"It's the work of a rival agency called Fulcrum," Emma answered, "From what I heard from my own contacts, it was something that had to do with revenge."

"Fulcrum?" Tony repeated, "I think I heard Lara once mention that name before. She warned me to 'stay away from Fulcrum'. No idea what she meant though."

"DiNozzo, take Agent Walker with you down to the morgue and see if Ducky can find any autopsy's that involved Fulcrum," Gibbs ordered, "Ziva, take Mr. Bartowski with you to Abby's lab and see if she can find any past evidence that involves this organization. Mr. Bartowski may be of use to you." _Though I highly doubt it,_ he added mentally, not knowing that Chuck was the Intersect.

Immediately both NCIS agents took Sarah and Chuck down to the respective destinations.

Gibbs turned to Tim. "McGee, see if you can track down any news about this agency. Let me know once you do," he ordered.

"Yes, Boss," Timothy answered automatically, his eyes now glued to his computer.

The grey-haired NCIS boss turned his attention to Bryce and Emma. "What were your relations to Agent Clark?" he inquired.

"Former partner and close friend," Bryce answered without hesitation.

"One of her contacts and a close, _close_ friend," Emma told him, "Information has gone between us both ways."

Casey observed Emma carefully. There was something about her that just seemed so... _familiar_ to him. What was it? Was it that soft, kind tone that she spoke with? Just where had he heard it before? Was it Sarah when she was talking to Chuck?

"And _how_ long had you been supplying each other with information?" Gibbs inquired, his piercing blue eyes suspicious.

"Practically her whole career," Emma answered honestly.

"Miss Parks," McGee began, "Were you at all surprised when Agent Larkin went to find you?"

The brunette shook her head. "Lara told me once that if something had ever happened to her, her old partner Bryce would come looking for me to see if I had any info as to why and who did it," she told him confidently.

For some really strange reason, Casey felt that she was lying, but he decided to hold his tongue... for the moment.

"Yeah, Lara told me to find an Emma Parks in San Francisco if something happened to her," Bryce agreed, smiling down at his girlfriend, "That's when I fell for her, I guess. That's not very easy for me to do." He tilted her chin up and kissed her deeply, right in front of the two NCIS agents and the NSA agent.

Casey suddenly felt an aching want and desire for Lara, followed by a deep hurt in his chest, knowing he'd never taste Lara's sensual lips ever again. He looked away from Bryce and Emma, recalling the times he and Lara had kissed as passionately as that. Gibbs sighed and shook his head.

Soon Emma pulled away. "We have to find Lara's killer, remember?" she reminded.

"Of course I do," Bryce shot back, "But I couldn't help myself. You're just too sexy for your own good."

She rolled her blue eyes at that comment and turned to Casey. "What was _your _relationship to Lara?" she implored curiously.

"She was my partner, and as a cover, my girlfriend. Undercover, she was a spy and my lover," he replied, his eyes averted to the floor, "She saved my life once and almost lost her own. She meant a lot to me, though I try not to show it when Agent Walker and Bartowski are around."

Pain flashed in her eyes as she listened to this. She turned to Bryce, desperation and sadness reflecting in her blue eyes. The CIA agent pulled her into his embrace, hugging her tightly before letting go.

"You must be Major John Casey," Emma said in a monotone voice, "Lara told me a lot about you. She really loved you, Casey, she really did. I-I'm sorry for your terrible loss."

Bryce slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close against him. "I'm also sorry too. She was a great partner and a kind-hearted person," he added in a neutral tone.

"Thank you," Casey said quietly, "I'm sure she would appreciate the compliments."

Bryce placed a hand on the Major's shoulder as Gibbs went over to McGee's desk, not really caring about their little intimate moment.

"She's really changed you, Casey," Bryce commented, "Curious, but would you give up almost anything to see her again?"

"I suppose," he answered, glaring at the CIA agent in suspicion, "Why?"

"Cause I would too," he replied, unfazed, "I want to tell her that she was the best partner I ever had. Second to Sarah, of course."

Gibbs stood up abruptly and snapped, "Are you guys going to help find the killer or not?! If you aren't, then get the hell outta here and talk elsewhere!"

The three agents looked taken aback as they blinked at the NCIS supervisor, then Casey scowled, "Well, what the hell do you want us to do?"

Gibbs took a moment to press a few buttons on McGee's phone to contact the morgue. "Duck, tell DiNozzo to meet me in Interrogation #1." Then he turned to Casey. "Since you were the last to see Agent Clark, Major, come with me. McGee, get Agents Larkin and Parks to help you," he ordered.

"Yes Sir," McGee returned, and Major Casey followed Special Agent Gibbs to the interrogation room.

Bryce began to walk towards Tim's desk before Emma grabbed his arm and he looked at her. Pain, desperation and a deep hurt flashed in her eyes as it told him everything. He knew there was only one thing to do at that time, so he gently pressed his lips against hers and whispered into her ear, "It'll be alright, you'll see."

McGee cocked his head at them. "Something up?" he asked rather dumbly.

"No problem," Emma lied.

There truly _was_ a big problem indeed, but Emma and Bryce knew deep in their hearts that this was _not _the right place nor the right time.

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**What's Bryce and Emma's secret? How do you think Casey's interrogation will go? How does Tony feel about this? Find out in the next chapter of Chuck Versus NCIS! **

**Please Review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Interrogation 1: NSA Major John Casey

**Here's chapter Two; I'm updating this at school, cuz I'm bored. and there is only a few minutes left in class. :D **

**EDIT: Well... the bell rang before I could update this. So NOW I'm updating it! :D**

**Now things are getting interesting, Casey's gonna get interrogated by Gibbs. How will this interrogation end? **

**Hope you like it! PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: NCIS and Chuck do NOT belong to me  
Claimer: Everything else (c) me**

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Chapter Two: Interrogation #1: NSA Major John Casey

Casey leaned forward on his chair, his arms propped up against the table, his hands folded under his nose. He sighed in both annoyance and in frustration. Why were they going to _bother_ to interrogate him? What reason would there be that he would kill his own partner and girlfriend if they thought he did?

Moments later, Tony and Gibbs walked into the room and Gibbs sat down across from him, his face emotionless and stern.

"Where were you the day Agent Clark was killed?" he began.

"That morning I woke up, Lara was sleeping peacefully by my side. Eventually we both got out of bed, had breakfast when General Beckman called us into our secret CIA-funded base for a meeting. We went to go get Chuck Bartowski, who lived right next door, and we headed over and met Agent Walker there. We were congratulated for capturing a Fulcrum agent, Jason Wilson, and Lara was thanked that she saved Chuck's life," Casey explained.

"Wait, wait, wait," Tony interrupted as he was leaning on a wall, "She _saved_ that nerd's life? For what reason?"

The Major leaned forward and asked quietly, "Agent Gibbs, have you ever heard of a database called the Intersect?"

Gibbs nodded, as he recalled the name of the database that held many world secrets. One of his old friends and former love interest Jenny Shepard had told him about the Intersect before she was killed in a gun fight. "Yes, I also heard that it was destroyed," he informed.

Casey grinned, almost evilly, "Chuck Bartowski _is_ the Intersect. He was sent the entire Intersect by Bryce Larkin before he destroyed it. He figured that Chuck would have the brain capacity to remember it all."

"Hmm..." Gibbs said thoughtfully, "That's interesting. And so I suppose he was the asset that you and Agent Walker was sent to protect?"

He nodded and Gibbs decided to continue, "Have you ever slept with Agent Clark?"

Casey's eyes widened as to how personal the question was, but then remembering that it could _somehow_ prove important. "Yes," he answered truthfully, "Several times in the past. But not recently during the last month. We decided that it was unprofessional during the period in which we were protecting the asset."

"Is there a possibility that this was a lover's revenge? Is there a former lover that may be out to get her for supposedly cheating on them?" Tony asked.

The major shrugged. "There is the possibility, but not likely. Agents in the CIA and the NSA are required to take part of an operative training class, in the academy; we'd call it 'seduction school'. Anyway, we took it as part of their training in order to learn the art of seduction. It has proved useful at times when trying to get information out of dangerous people," he explained, "If she has seduced any evil men in the past, they have either been captured, or they are dead."

Tony laughed, "Wow! They actually have a _class _for seducing people?! Hey, I wanna go!"

"Shut it, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped before turning back to Casey, "How about you, Major? Were you at all offended with the fact that she had to sleep with other men as part of her duty?"

"Nope," Casey answered easily, "Two reasons. One; it didn't happen very often, and two; she already told me she loved me. After a while, I learned to trust her, as she learned to trust me. Trust is not something easily developed when you're a spy."

"How come she earned to trust me so easily?" Tony queried.

Casey glared. "She knew you wouldn't stab her in the back. Last time she talked about you, she said that you were a loyal and dedicated friend," he said.

DiNozzo couldn't help but smile. _That's Lara alright,_ he thought.

"Major, your file says you're a trained assassin, so I do believe you are fully capable of arranging something like this," Gibbs began.

"Are you accusing me of murder?" Casey demanded, his anger nearly about to snap, "Are you accusing me of killing my girlfriend?!"

"Well... do you not admit that you are capable of doing something like this?" he retorted, still maintaining his cool.

Casey's fist slammed onto the table. "I didn't kill her!" he shouted angrily, "My team and I risked our lives to save hers when she had been fatally poisoned. Why would I go through all that trouble to save her if I was just going to kill her later?"

Tony raised both hands in front of him. "Whoa, wait. We don't think you killed her, even though Gibbs makes it sound like he is," he informed, "I can see that you loved her very much. Personally, I don't see what's _not_ to love about her. I'm not saying-"

"We just needed to ask you some questions," Gibbs interjected, looking at the NSA agent, "Anyway, if I made it sound like I was accusing you of killing her, that's my job. I needed to know whether someone of your rank could access this sort of military weaponry."

John sighed, a bit calmer now, and leaned back on his chair. "Hell yeah I could access that. I'm just several spots away from the big shot," he retorted.

"Did Lara have any enemies?" the NCIS special agent implored.

Casey snorted in amusement, as if the answer was obvious. "Of course she had enemies. She's a damn good CIA agent," he retorted, "Most of them from Fulcrum, the rogue agency I was talking about."

Tony looked thoughtful. "Are you saying that Fulcrum may be behind this?"

The NSA agent crossed his arms. "Hell yes. Especially these two agents; James and Jason Wilson, who were the last Fulcrum agents that crossed us. We currently have Jason Wilson in federal custody, but his older brother managed to escape. We are still trying to capture him, and I suspect that James was the one who shot –or at least arranged, the missile that destroyed Lara's plane."

"Have you ever encountered James Wilson before?" Gibbs inquired, leaning back in his chair casually.

"Yes, I encountered him when my team and I were searching for the antidote for this dart called dart AY-63," he explained, "Lara had been shot with two of them. Nearly died too."

Tony cringed at the thought of Lara lying in a hospital bed, dying. But then he remembered the reality of it; Lara was dead. "I know it may be kinda awkward that your own temporary teammates are interrogating you," he began, sincerity filling his voice, "but we want to bring Lara's killer to justice just as much as you do. We'll make sure that her killer pays for what he's done."

"Come on, Major, focus here," Gibbs said, "I know I've asked you this before, but what was your relationship to Agent Clark?"

Casey sighed, "I already told you before, we were just partners that were...well... kinda crushing on each other."

Tony sighed dramatically, leaning more against the wall. "You _did,_ however, admit that your feelings were beyond professional, not to mention that you've slept with each other and admitted your feelings."

"Fine, fine," he admitted reluctantly, "If it helps bring her killer to justice, I loved Lara Clark very much, as she loved me. But we knew we had to keep our relationship strictly professional. Cause in the end, we're still spies."

"Do you know the possible motive behind her murder?" Gibbs implored.

"Revenge," the major answered automatically, "As I said before, we have Jason Wilson in federal custody. Both he and his brother share a hate for her, and well... their hatred ran pretty deep, and they tend to hold a pretty hard grudge by the looks of things. They've made several attempts on her life before."

"Curious, but has she ever talked about how much we love to share secrets with each other and keep them from everyone else?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Yeah, she's talked about it," he answered.

"Then why didn't she come to me and NCIS for help," he demanded, "She knows very well that I'd be able to help her in some way."

"She wasn't interested in getting you killed," Casey answered crudely, "You're not a spy, DiNozzo. Knowing certain things may easily get you killed, and she didn't want to see you get hurt."

The spiky brown-haired man was taken aback. Was spy life _really_ that complicated? If he were in Lara's position, he'd do the same thing and not tell her, he had decided. _Poor Lara,_ he thought, _I wish I could have helped her in some way, at least._

Gibbs sighed, standing up. "We're done now. You can go," he announced, "Thank you for your time, Major."

Casey nodded wordlessly as he stood up, following Gibbs and Tony out of the room.

Right on time, Gibbs' phone rang. "Gibbs," he answered, his eyes looking a little more grave as he listened to McGee on the other end of the phone, "We'll be there in a minute."

"Something wrong, Boss?" Tony inquired.

"Agent Parks passed out. Ducky's with her right now, trying to see what's wrong with her," he explained.

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**Hope you liked this chapter! Plus, I hope I didn't get anyone out of character at the same time. Please review and also tell me how I did on my character-personality-maintanining-skills.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. What's Going On?

**Okay, here's one of the LONGER chapters. Hope you like it! Plus, I hope that I got Casey a little more in-character than I did in the last chapters. BTW, Bryce might be a little OCC-ish in this chapter, and I'm sorry if that's the case. **

**Yay! Going to Otafest 2009 tomorrow! *cheers* Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, and I'm sorry if this was 'delayed' for those of you who really wanted to read the next (aka this) chapter. :D**

**Disclaimer: Chuck and NCIS do not belong to me  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

**PLEASE R&R!**

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Chapter Three: What's Going On?

Donald "Ducky" Mallard placed two fingers on Emma's neck, feeling for her pulse, which he found continuing to beat strongly. Then he took her hand, feeling the coldness of it. He felt her forehead, and found that it was burning warm. Sarah stood by them, a little concerned herself.

Bryce stared at Emma worriedly as she sat upright on his lap on the ground next and against to Tony's desk, her head limply on his shoulder. Ducky turned to the CIA agent, adjusting his glasses. "I think she just has a high fever," he informed, "She just needs some medicine and good rest."

All at once, Gibbs, Casey, Tony, Ziva, Abby and Chuck ran up to them, surrounding them.

"Emma!" Tony exclaimed, worried about the agent.

"What happened?" Abby demanded from McGee.

"Well, Bryce and I saw that she was getting a little dizzy, and so I asked her whether she was okay," Tim explained, "She _claimed_ that she was fine, and so we shrugged it off."

"Then all of a sudden, she collapsed," Bryce continued, "I was just lucky I caught her in time before she hit her head on something."

"Is she going to be okay, Dr. Mallard?" Chuck inquired the medical examiner.

"Yes, my boy," he answered, looking up at Gibbs, "Jethro, do you need Agents Park and Larkin to remain here for today?"

He shook his head, looking at Bryce. "Agent Larkin, take her back to your hotel and take care of her. We don't need to see you for the rest of the day," he instructed, "Give DiNozzo a call if she's not well enough to come tomorrow."

As Gibbs said this, Tony handed Bryce his card, in which the CIA agent tucked into his shirt pocket.

"Here, I'll escort you guys out to your car," Tony offered as Agent Larkin effortlessly swept Emma up into his arms and held her close.

"Thanks," he replied, "But it's okay."

"That's a nice necklace she has, especially the pendant," Ziva noted, receiving strange looks from her teammates, including the temporary ones, "What? It _is_."

Bryce chuckled. "I bought it for her just this morning. I thought it would go great with her eyes," he explained before carrying her out toward the elevator.

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When the two CIA agents arrived back at their hotel, Bryce gently laid Emma down on the one king-sized bed, pulling the soft sheets over her.

"Mmm?" she murmured, half-opening her eyes, "B-Bryce? Is that you? Where are we?"

"At the hotel," he answered, smoothly yanking off his bowtie, "According to Dr. Mallard, or as they call 'Ducky', you have a fever. You collapsed at McGee's desk."

"Do I _need_ to remove these contact lenses?" she asked, "I feel like I'm nearly blind."

He shook his head. "They're specially designed so that you don't have to take them off," he replied, slipping off his jacket, "and the blindness, I suppose it's just the sunlight. How are you feeling right now?"

"I've been better," she muttered, sighing, "How's the case going?"

"They've finished interrogating Casey, and McGee made a list of possible suspects." He walked over and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Emma," he began, helping her sit up as he handed her a glass of water and a few fever-relieving pills, "how long do you think we can keep this? They'll find out eventually, knowing them."

"Until we find Lara's murderer," she answered, swallowing the pills and washing them down with water, "It'll only hurt and confuse them more if they knew the truth. Until the time we discover the _true_ killer, they can't know."

Bryce smiled. "You're very stubborn," he commented, taking her cup and placing it on the nightstand. Then he pulled the curtains closed so no light entered the room. "All the more why you're like a younger sister to me."

She sighed tiredly, resting a hand on her still-warm forehead. "I'm guessing that you've already checked the place for bugs," she said.

"Sleep well, Emma," he retorted, ignoring her previous comment and laying a brief kiss on her forehead.

She yawned, "But... you're playing safe anyway. Thank you Bryce... for doing all this for me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

He smiled. "It's no problem. It's good to know that you trust me with your secret," he said, "I'll take good care of you. You're my mission right now." Gently, he leaned down and kissed her soft, smooth lips.

She sighed, "I still can't get used to that. It still feels kinda weird, but I suppose I'll have to get used to it."

Bryce's smile widened, his face close to hers. "Maybe I should help out with that. It's only what a good partner would do," he replied, brushing his fingers down her cheek before kissing her deeply before beginning to make-out with her.

Eagerly, one hand travelled to the back of her head as the other slipped down onto her lower back, pressing her up against him as he moved onto the bed on top of her, still kissing her passionately. His hand began to travel to the buttons on her shirt, but she grabbed his hand, pulling her lips off his.

"Don't push it," she warned, smiling warmly, "But thank you for helping me adjust. I have to admit, you're doing a pretty good job of it."

He rolled himself off of her and lay by her side, his fingers running through her soft brunette hair. "I'm so glad I made you dye your hair. It's so beautiful," he sighed, his eyes staring deep into hers, "How are you feeling now?"

She breathed in deeply. "A lot better, thank you," she answered, "Those pills work pretty fast."

Slowly, he pulled himself closer to her, letting his lips brush over hers. "I guess our girlfriend/boyfriend cover is pretty convincing," he commented, one hand behind his head as it rested against the pillow, "Considering it looks like I have _some _sort of attraction to you."

"So... only second best to Sarah, huh?" she asked, "What do you think Lara would say to that? Do you think she'd be jealous?"

Bryce sighed, tucking his other hand behind his head as he stared up at the cream-coloured ceiling. "I don't know. She might agree, or maybe she might not," he admitted.

Emma propped herself up on an elbow, looking down at him with a smile. "I think you're right," she agreed, gently placing a kiss on his lips before flopping back down onto her back.

He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. "Sleep, Emma. It's something that I think you need."

"Says the agent who went all the way to San Francisco immediately after I call," she teased.

Bryce pulled her closer. "Uh huh," he agreed, "I love you."

Emma smiled. "Love you too," she responded affectionately, closing her sweet blue eyes.

A smile graced his own lips as he watched her rest. His fingers gently brushed over her cheek, his fingertips just barely touching her smooth skin. _You're such a good person,_ he thought, _Why must you suffer through this? Whatever the reason, I'll help you get through this no matter what._ Then he shut his own light eyes and sighed deeply, allowing his mind to wander. Minutes later, he fell asleep, resting by her side, his arm across her waist.

The female agent mumbled gently, slowly shifting closer to Bryce. The two CIA agents could have their normal civilian moment of love after all.

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"Uh... Boss?" McGee inquired, "I don't think we can hack into Fulcrum's server."

Casey snorted in amusement. "Of course not. The NSA and CIA have already _tried_ before, using many, _many_ strategies, including the illegal ones. What makes you think that NCIS is going to be able to?" he mocked.

"We appreciate the criticism, Major Casey," Gibbs retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"That's Casey alright," Chuck agreed, sighing melodramatically, "Always the joker and the bully."

"Chuck..." Sarah warned, her voice low, "Bad time, bad place. We need to work on the case, remember?"

"I don't really wanna think about Lara's cold...dead...body..." he trailed off quietly, only meant for Sarah's ears, "and I just want to try and help Casey get over this, no matter how hard this is. I can see it hurts him every time a memory of them together is brought up."

Sarah sighed quietly. "That's really nice of you Chuck, but I think all Casey needs right now is steady support and no jokes. He's been through a lot in the past month. He still loves her, even though she's gone. It hurts him to see Bryce and Emma together as he and Lara used to be."

Chuck's eyes became pained, his voice slightly strained. "But we've got to do _something _to help him," he argued.

"Find Lara's killer," she told him bluntly, "and make sure they pay for making Casey miserable by taking her away from him."

The nerd sighed as Tony and Ziva walked up to them as they were all standing away from Casey, McGee and Gibbs.

"Is he usually that grumpy?" Tony implored, "Kinda reminds me of Gibbs on a bad day."

"_And _a good day too," Ziva added grimly.

"Usually not _this_ grumpy," Chuck answered, "It's been hard on him for the last month."

"Can't blame him either," Tony agreed, green eyes sad, "She was a great person. Loved her like a sister."

Ziva gave him an accusing look. "Just _how_ close were you two?" she inquired.

"Close enough," he answered, "She used to tell me a lot about herself. I knew she was with the CIA, so I loved to tease her about a spy. I hope Gibbs isn't going to interrogate me."

"Why?" Sarah implored curiously.

"He's rather..." Ziva paused, trying to find the words, "intimidating when he's interrogating people. Only to strangers and strong-willed people though. It's almost easy for him to break strong-willed people."

Chuck gulped in nervousness and fear. He very well knew that he was going to be interrogated at some point, and now he hoped that the terrifying NCIS supervision wouldn't be his interrogator. "Who else does the interrogating other than him?" he demanded, his tone nearly begging.

"Well, I do on some occasions," Tony answered, "Either that or I stand outside the door and relay new information and pieces of evidence to Gibbs."

The nerd desperately grabbed Tony's arm and exclaimed, "Interrogate me!"

Everyone looked at him with weird and or surprised looks.

"You confessing your love or something, Bartowski?" Casey called, his arms crossed, "You're awfully loud about it. Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Uh..." Chuck stammered, looking nervously at Gibbs, "I wasn't confessing anything. I just...uh... yeah."

Tony slowly slipped his arm out of Chuck's grip while giving him a weird look. "That was really creepy," he commented, turning to the silent Sarah, "He always like this?"

She shook her head. "Chuck can be a little... tense, sometimes," she explained, looking at the nerd, "He's not used to being questioned. Well, not any _not life-threatening_ questionings, at least."

Ziva looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Hmm..." she mumbled, "I guess we can pull a few strings and let Tony interrogate you."

The tall NCIS field agent smirked. "Yeah, or else you'll face Gibbs instead," he taunted, "Then you're _doomed_."

Chuck whimpered very gently, inching towards Sarah in worry and fear.

"Don't worry Chuck," she chided gently and quietly, "I won't let anyone hurt you."

Casey walked over to them, his arms crossed. "DiNozzo, we need to talk."

Tony blinked green eyes before nodding. "Follow me," he ordered, leading him to the empty, private space behind the staircase. Then he turned to the NSA agent. "Yes, Major Casey?" he asked informally.

"How long have you known Lara?" he demanded.

"Many years, I'm guessing," Tony answered, "A few months, I think two or three, before she went to a mission in Paris. I ran into her here in Washington, in a coffee shop downtown. She was the cutest one in the shop, couldn't help myself but talk to her."

A low growl escaped Casey's throat as he glared threateningly at the man.

"Sorry, didn't mean it like that," he apologized quickly, "Anyway, we got to know about each other a little better, like personal hobbies and stuff like that. We didn't know that the other was also a government agent, and so when I joked around, offering to take her home with me, she agreed. Honestly, I was a little surprised and told her I was joking, but she was pushing it so, reluctantly, I agreed."

The major snorted in amusement. "She was up to something, I'm sure of it," he commented.

"Yeah," he agreed, "she pushed me onto my couch and pulled a gun on me, demanding who I was working for. Believe me, I was_ freaked_ when I found out that she was with the Central Intelligence Agency, so I told her I was with NCIS and showed her my badge and all, and _then_ she believed me. It was a little weird, but she apologized and we learned a _lot_ more about each other and our government agent lives. Of course she couldn't tell me much about _her_ life," he explained, "Took her out for dinner, exchanged personal phone numbers, and kept in touch, meeting once every week for coffee."

Casey felt a small pang of jealousy at the thought of how close they could have gotten in only the time of 2 to 3 months. But then the thought that he had fallen in love with her after the first month reassured him that Tony and Lara were only close friends. _Damn I miss her,_ he thought.

"3 months later," DiNozzo continued, "she took a plane to Paris, where, from what she told me, she met you and after a month you find out you two have fallen in love with each other in the most romantic city in the world."

"Our cover was supposed to be a newlywed couple going to Paris for our honeymoon, but we found out that our fake love ran deeper than we thought after the first month," Casey clarified, "Rather than cover it up, we openly revealed our feelings so we became willing to put them aside to focus on the mission."

"And _why _are you being so open about this?" he implored out of the blue, looking at him with curious eyes.

The NSA agent glared, snorting. "Cause I know that you know that I will kill you if you speak a word of this to anyone unless it becomes life-threatening information that Gibbs may need to know," he threatened.

Tony blinked, taken aback. "Uh... okay... um... is there anything else you'd like to know?" he stammered, trying to direct the attention away from life-threatening situations.

"No," Casey replied bluntly, walking back to the rest of the team.

The NCIS agent hurriedly followed after him before he was stopped by Gibbs. "Uh... yes, Boss?" he asked.

Gibbs whispered to him, "I want you to keep a close eye on Major Casey. My gut tells me that he knows more than he's letting on."

"And your gut is usually right," Tony added, knowing himself as one of the people who know his supervisor the best, "So keep a close eye on the major but not close enough that he suspects, got it, Boss."

The NCIS MCRT (Major Case Response Team) supervisor then walked over to Chuck, Sarah and Casey. "Okay, we don't need to see you three here again today. Thanks for your help today," he told them, "It's getting late, not to mention dark outside. You guys go get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow."

_Oh God..._ Chuck thought grimly, _We're doomed. This NCIS Gibbs guy is going to be the end of us._

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**Okay, I hope I did a better job on keeping people in-character. :D Please tell me how I did on that and who needs to be 'fixed'. lol.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. Memories and Trouble

**Well... it's been a while since I've updated, and thanks to my newfound help, I think I can get DiNozzo and the others a little more into their actual characters. I hope this chapter may not be a disappointment to the fans out there, and if it is, a deeply and truly apologize, and would much appreciate it if you could review and tell me what was wrong so I could fix it, and that INCLUDES character development and stuff. **

**So, this chapter is a little more about Casey and Lara's first assignment together, though it doesn't go TOO in-depth about that. And Tony needs some advice, so let's see who he's going to talk to... **

**Thank you to **

**_~007chuck  
~supesfan18  
~blackcat252_**

**for all of your help! I REALLY REALLY REALLY appreciate it and will most likely need your continuing assistance throughout this story (if you don't mind, that is. If you do, just let me know and I'll understand). **

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck and NCIS (c) not me  
Claimer: Everything else (c) me**

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Chapter Four: Memories and Trouble

_It was past sunset, and John Casey and Lara Clark were outside a warehouse in Paris, France. Their mission and asset; each other. They were investigating a drug dealing organization underneath the warehouse, and they fled after being caught. Now they stood in a standoff between Casey and another man, Lewis Wraps. The late-20's man had short blonde hair and grey eyes. He was tall and not very well built, but still rather skinny. Both were pointing a gun at each other, and Lara could only stand idly by, for her gun was lost... or so it seemed. _

_"Surrender now, Lewis, the gig is up," Casey called._

_"Never," the man replied, a trace of a faint French accent on his voice._

_"Give up now and tell us the rest involved in the organization," Lara shouted, "We'll put in a good word for you."_

_"Forget it!" Lewis snapped. He was losing his cool _and_ his patience. They had to act fast._

_Instantly, Lara pulled out her hidden gun while running towards Casey and fired two shots directly into the drug dealer's chest. Casey had also done the same, firing several shots into the man's chest. At the same time, Lewis had fired a single shot toward Casey while, at a last attempt, pulled out a throwing knife and threw it. Instead of injuring Casey, the bullet spiralled into Lara's stomach as she ran in front of the NSA agent. The knife entered her chest and waves of pain crashed into her senses as she collapsed. _

_Casey immediately ran over and checked whether Lewis was dead before taking his gun, holstering it and returning to Lara's side, gently laying her on his lap. _

_"C-C-Casey?" Lara choked, blood quickly soaking the front of her white shirt._

_Casey's brain was still trying to process the fact that she had just jumped into the path of a bullet and a knife that were meant for him. She had saved his life. He pulled her up so that her head rested against his shoulder and her body was leaning on his. He said urgently into his communicator, "Man down! Man down! I need an ambulance!" _

_"C-Casey..." the CIA agent whispered, eyes barely open, "I-I'm sorry. I-I was... a-almost...t-t-too late..."_

_"No, no, don't say that," he told her, holding her close, "Idiot, you shouldn't have done that." He knew very well that he could not remove the knife or else she would bleed faster, most likely killing her before help could come. _

_"I couldn't- I couldn't let him hurt you," she breathed, "Y-You're my asset."_

_"As you are mine," he murmured, lowering his face close to hers, "You can't die on me, Lara."_

_"T-the knife p-pierced my lung. N-Not m-much time," she stammered quietly, trying to breathe, "Y-You've g-got to l-l-live on. W-W-Without me..."_

_Casey shook his head stubbornly. "No, I can't, not without you. Beckman would kill me if I did. I failed my asset," he whispered to her, chuckling before gently pressing his lips against hers, "I know we don't say it often because we're spies, but I love you."_

_Her golden eyes closed as she mumbled, "C-Casey... I-I love you too..."_

_"Come on, Lara, don't die on me," he chided as he rocked her back and forth gently in his arms, desperately looking back and forth to see whether the ambulance had arrived yet. When he looked down, he saw that he was kneeling in a pool of Lara's scarlet blood. The dark red liquid continued to stream non-stop from her wounds. Time was running out and he threaded his fingers through hers, clutching her hand tightly._

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John Casey snapped up in his bed, panting as beads of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He had gotten a separate hotel room right next to Chuck and Sarah's, so no one was there to witness his waking up from a nightmare.

_Just a dream,_ he told himself, _more like a replay of what happened in the past. Damn... that was when she nearly died saving my life. _He shuddered at the memory. _It's hard to believe that she's just... _gone_ now._

His eyes were averted to the golden heart necklace on the small table beside the bed.

_That once belonged to the most beautiful and selfless woman I ever knew,_ he thought sadly, _and I'll never see her again._ He shook his head.

"Damn..." he breathed, "I should get back to sleep. I hope that damn memory doesn't continue from where it left off."

And of _course_, he was wrong.

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_Casey had been sitting outside the general hospital for hours, and there was still no word on her condition. The last time he checked, he had been outside the ER for twelve hours. He had already reported back to General Beckman, and she had ordered him to stay with Agent Clark and make sure that she would be okay. _

_Suddenly, the ER door opened and a black-haired man stepped out in semi-bloodied scrubs. His light blue-green eyes looked tired and he sighed in exhaustion, turning to Casey, who was still in his bloodied clothes. The major stood up and demanded, "Doctor Evans, how is she?"_

_"I've got good news and bad news. Good news is that she survived the operation and she's stable. Bad news is that she's in a coma right now. We're guessing that she'll come out of it in about a week. Even so, it'll take at least a month before she can be released from the hospital," he explained._

_"Thank you, Doc. As long as she's alive," he replied gratefully. _

_"She's being transferred to ICU room 25 if you want to see her. We'll keep a close eye on her to make sure she recovers well," he told him._

_Casey nodded gravely, still a little concerned...._

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His eyes opened, staring up at the dark ceiling of his hotel bedroom. "Damn it... not again. What the hell is wrong with me tonight? I keep dreaming about Lara and what happened in the past," he groaned, sitting up. He put his hand on his forehead and sighed, "Something must be wrong with me. Either that or I miss her damn too much."

He looked at the clock, which illuminated in bright red numbers, '3:19 AM' and he groaned.

"Can't get up yet, still too early," he said, "and if I go back to sleep, I'm probably going to continue dreaming about Lara. Damn it... and if I don't get any sleep NCIS will murder me… correction, _try_ to murder me, for falling asleep. Not to mention that Walker and Bartowski would never let me live it down. Crap... no choice then."

Casey flopped back down on the bed, breathing out deeply and closing his eyes once more. Soon enough, he fell asleep and began to dream...

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_A week and a half had passed since Lara had been submitted into the general hospital. She had came out of her coma four days ago, and now lay in her hospital bed, resting with Casey at her bedside. Her cold hand was tightly clenched in his, and he waited patiently for her to wake up._

_Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light in the room._

_"Lara," Casey said quietly, "You're finally awake."_

_"How long have I been out?" she asked, just as quietly._

_His face hardened. "You've been in a coma for a week, and just came out of it four days ago. This is the first time you've gained consciousness since you were injured," he answered, his face grim._

_She couldn't help but force a smile. "Am I gonna live?" she teased._

_He nodded. "Thank you, Lara. You saved my life," he said, his tone low, "I would have died, if it weren't for you."_

_Lara shook her head, her golden eyes sparkling with joy. "I'm sure you would have done the same for me," she replied, "If not, well... I would have done it anyway."_

_A smile couldn't help but creep onto Casey's face. "I _would_ have done the same thing," he agreed, "How do you feel?"_

_"I've been a lot better," she breathed, "How about you? How are _you_ feeling?"_

_"I'd feel a lot better if it was _me_ lying there instead of you," he responded, sighing as he moved to sit on her bedside, "I'm sorry you got hurt. I should have moved while I had the chance."_

_She shook her head, laying her hand on his. "Its okay, Casey. I'm fine. I'm alive, aren't I?" she reassured, resting her other hand on the side of his face, forcing him to look at her, "Hey, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Trust me."_

_He inched forward and rested his lips on hers, his hand on the back of her head, pressing her face closer against his. "Lara, I love you."_

_"I'm afraid that my feelings are mutual," she told him, a small smile pulling at the edge of her lips before his lips enclosed over hers once more, kissing her even deeper._

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Casey sat up, a low growl in his throat. _Am I just going to dream about her the whole damn night?! _He thought in annoyance.

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Meanwhile, Tony was tossing and turning in his bed as he was having a not so nice dream. Suddenly, he woke up with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. _Damn it... Ever since I heard about Lara's death, I can't stop dreaming about her. What's up with that?_ He thought, _I'm only one of her close friends. I wonder how that big scary guy that was a NSA major, Casey, was it now. I wonder how _he_ must be taking it. Not well… I assume… _

He sighed, swinging his legs outta bed and resting a hand on his forehead. "Man… this reminds me of that movie… eh… which movie was it now? Right… Star Wars Episode III, when Anakin dreams that Padmé was going to die and then she did…" He trailed off at that note.

_Well… I _was_ dreaming that she just walked in through the elevator with a coffee before coming to head-slap me for thinking her dead,_ he thought in question, _erm… if it's going to happen like Star Wars, then I guess she might just… walk into NCIS with a coffee tomorrow? _

"Ack! What am I thinking?!" he scolded himself, "Lara is dead. Why can't I see that?" Then he groaned and flopped back down on the bed, closing his eyes.

_I wonder if Anakin would be brave enough to tell Obi-wan about his dreams? Well… I know Gibbs would probably kill me for showing up on his doorstep in the middle of the night. Hmm… maybe… McProbie? Nah, he wouldn't understand I don't think… Ziva, perhaps? Yeah, maybe I should go pay Ziva a visit, she might know how to handle this._

He crawled out of bed, threw some pants on, grabbed his jacket and his keys and headed out the door.

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_Ding, dong_. Ziva groaned, covering her head with her pillow before the doorbell rang again. She threw her pillow off and practically leaped out of bed, weapon in hand.

_Who the hell would dare to wake me up this time of night?_ She thought annoyingly. She peered through the peep hole and saw Tony DiNozzo at her doorstep at about 3:30 in the morning. She put away her gun and opened the door, glaring angrily at the senior field agent.

"Tony!" she hissed, "What the hell do you want? It's 3:30 in the morning!"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I guess you're not a morning person, are you, Ziva?" he teased before becoming more serious, "I need some advice."

Almost immediately her expression changed and she was more interested. If Tony needed advice from her, he _must_ be serious about something. "Well, since you're already here, come in." She sat down on her recliner chair while he sat down on the couch.

"So what's the problem, Tony?" the Mossad Liaison officer queried.

"Ever since I heard about Lara's death, I can't stop dreaming about her," he explained, "I-It kind of brings back memories of when I first met her. I-I just… couldn't stop dreaming about her, I couldn't even get her out of my head. She was just… such a fascinating woman. I-I wasn't sure… but I thought… I-I just might have… perhaps…"

"Just spit it out already, Tony! We don't have all night!" she snapped, impatient with the hour and his hesitation.

"I might have been in love with her," he admitted, "She was so radiant, so strong, it's just… hard to believe that she's gone. In truth… the night before her murder, I had a dream. I saw this plane, and I saw Lara at the window. But then… I saw this missile heading for it, and tried to yell at her, but… the missile impacted, and the plane exploded."

"Either you must have been thinking that was one crazy dream, or you might have thought it may have been a premonition dream," Ziva responded.

"It kind of reminds me of that movie, Premonition, you know, with Sandra Bullock," he said, "O-Or like the Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher. O-Or that other one-"

"Tony!" she scolded, "Back. On. Track? It's 3 something in the morning, and I do _not_ need to listen to movie references when I could be sleeping. I'm willing to listen to your problems though."

"Sorry, I just can't help but refer to movies when… anyway," he continued, "I just… miss her. Ziva, how did _you_ deal with a death?"

"Well…" she began, "the last time that happened I first kicked around a dummy, went down to the shooting arena and get in some good shots, then I sat in front of the TV with a tub of ice cream and Kleenex."

He blinked green eyes, letting the first few ideas sink into him. "Only _you_ would probably kill a dummy before going to a shooting arena…" he commented crudely.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring his previous comment. "Well… its good to talk to someone about it. If you bring back the good memories of you and Lara together, it might be easier for you to let go," she said, "I _did_ talk to Gibbs this one time. He helped me get it off my chest."

"Really? Gibbs?" Tony inquired, a little surprised.

"Yeah," she answered.

"You think I should talk to him?" he asked, a little hesitant at the thought, standing up.

She smirked, "Well, you'd better not be thinking now, cause he'll probably strangle you."

He blinked once more, heading towards the door. "Yeah, I think you're right about that one. Well… thanks for all your help Ziva. I guess I won't deny you your beauty sleep any longer," he said, "Well… not that it would help."

She scowled, throwing a pillow at him. "Don't tempt me to hurt you, DiNozzo," she threatened. _Damn… I should ask him to stay the night. Wait… WHAT?!_ She thought, a little furious at herself now.

However, Tony was thinking something of similar lines. _Awww… well… maybe next time,_ he thought. "Okay, well… good night, Ziva," he bid.

"Night, Tony," she said.

* * *

**So, I hope you've liked this chapter. I'm not too sure when I'll update next, and I hope I've gotten Tony a little more into character thanks to the great help I've had so far. **

**By the way, should I also have a TonyxZiva fluff and or pairing in this story? Cause it may just change Tony's outlook on Lara's death or so on and whatever. Please review and let me know in it. If you have any ideas on how it should be more portrayed (as in, at first more brotherxsister clash before romance kinda thing, etc.) please also let me know your ideas. **

**Please Review and I'll update as soon as I can! Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers, watchers and favouriters out there! Much appreciated!**


	6. Explanations Needed

**Sorry for the wait people. I've been working on other fanfictions, and I tried to correct several of the mishaps in the previous chapters. Plus... I had a writer's block for this chapter momentarily. lol.**

**In any case, without further delay, here's chapter five!**

**Thanks to _~supesfan18 _for his help on DiNozzo's movie trivia!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
: Whatever movie DiNozzo is referencing on (c) respective owner****  
Claimer: Everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Five: Explanations Needed

The next morning at the NCIS office, Gibbs and his team were hard at work when Team Bartowski, as well as Bryce and Emma, arrived.

"'Bout time you guys came," Gibbs scolded immediately.

"Sorry, we couldn't come earlier," Bryce apologized, "I wanted to let Emma sleep in more or else we'd come earlier."

Emma sighed, hitting him playfully on the shoulder. "Even though I told him to wake me up early so we could come," she explained.

"We think we may have narrowed the list of suspects," McGee exclaimed, "Come over here and I'll explain."

Bryce felt his girlfriend tense beside him, and placed a reassuring hand on her lower back, leading her towards the desk.

"Well, good," Casey growled, crossing his arms, "Now I can find that damn man who took Lara's life."

A pang of pain flashed in Emma's eyes as they all approached his desk. _Damn it… I can't let Casey know how deeply I'm involved with Lara's murder,_ she thought, _he would never forgive me…_

McGee moved all of his info onto the larger TV screen. "Here are our possible suspects; Damien Sergie, Lewis Wraps, Amanda Larne, Jordan Blarge, Jason Wilson, James Wilson and Gerald Forceps," he listed.

Chuck flashed on most of those names, and was about to speak when Casey spoke first.

"Lewis Wraps is dead. He's been dead for years. Your system needs to be updated," he commented crudely, "Jason Wilson is in federal custody, as is Amanda Larne and Gerald Forceps."

"There's one thing that they all have in common though," Sarah began, staring at the pictures.

"I agree," Bryce said.

"They're all criminals?" Tony guessed.

"No really, DiNozzo," Gibbs scolded sarcastically, glaring at him.

Chuck decided to speak up. "Most of them work for Fulcrum," he announced.

"But recently, the only person that would _want_ to extract revenge on Lara would be James Wilson," Emma stated.

Suddenly, the NCIS team saw Director Vance descend down the stairs towards them. "Agent Walker, Agent Casey, Mr. Bartowski, General Beckman would like to speak to you. Come with me. Gibbs, you and the rest of your team head over to the new murder site and investigate. It's at the Washington airport in the control room. It's time you guys get back on track with the _real_ case at hand."

Tony bit back a remark. Finding out who killed Agent Lara Clark _was_ a _real_ case.

"Come on, team, gear up," Gibbs ordered as they all grabbed their backpacks, heading toward the elevator.

"We'll see you later," McGee said as they went their separate ways.

_Damn it,_ Casey thought, _Beckman's probably going to give me hell for releasing information on the Intersect. Not my fault Bartowski has a big brain._

The group of them went up to MTAC, where General Beckman was already put on standby, watching as the team walked in with Director Vance. Her fierce glare was directed at Casey, and he knew he was in a lot of hot water.

"Thank you, Director Vance," she greeted, "Now if you don't mind, I would like to speak to my team _alone_. The exception would be the communication team I sent."

He nodded, leaving the MTAC room.

"Uh… hi General Beckman," Chuck greeted uneasily, trying to sound easygoing and failing.

"Major Casey, just_ what_ were you thinking?!" she raged, "You _openly told_ Special Agent Gibbs about the _Intersect_!"

Casey calmly maintained a soldier's façade as he made an attempt to explain the situation. "I apologize, General, but it was need to know information. Bartowski wouldn't be able to help out the case and would be forced to leave unless he revealed information that he shouldn't be able to know," he explained.

"Casey's right," Sarah agreed, causing Casey to shoot her a silent grateful look in his eyes, "and therefore that would force us to abandon our mission to protect the Intersect. Then if after that, we chose to abandon NCIS to continue our original mission to protect Chuck, it would raise suspicions."

General Beckman took a moment to debate it in her head as she stared hard at Team Bartowski. Sighing in defeat, she decided that they were correct.

"Very well, Major, Walker, though I may not agree with Major Casey's reckless decision of informing NCIS on the Intersect, I will allow your team to continue investigating the murder of Agent Clark. This will mean no more informing NCIS about anymore of the NSA's secrets, otherwise I am forced to retrieve your team from the field." The NSA director decided before cutting off the transmission.

Chuck, Casey and Sarah couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh with relief, only Sarah and Chuck's being noticeable.

"That was a close one," Chuck breathed.

"Yeah, no kidding," Casey grumbled as he stalked to the door.

"This is really affecting Casey bad," Sarah commented. _He's changed. He seems to be more angry and seems to be a whole lot easier to irritate. Not a good thing… not a good thing indeed…._

_-----_

"McGee, pull off the security footage from that camera," Gibbs ordered as they surveyed the area as Tony and Ziva began snapping crime scene photos and finding and collecting what evidence they could find. Four dead bodies lay on the ground; three male, one female.

"All four victims died of their gunshot wounds. They all died at relatively close times," Ducky announced as he tilted one man's head carefully. "They were probably all shot simultaneously. It'll take me a little longer to determine the time of death."

"I'll have the bullet casings sent to Abby for analysis," assistant Jimmy Palmer stated.

Emma and Bryce looked thoughtful as they quietly looked around the crime scene.

"Hmm… I think I've seen these guys before," Bryce mumbled.

His girlfriend and partner looked up at him. "Same," she agreed. "Aren't these guys working for Fulcrum? But what reason would they be here?"

"Agent Clark _did _made a transit flight here in Washington," Ziva pointed out. "Maybe they were sent here to make sure she boarded that plane that would eventually be hit."

"But then why would four perfectly healthy adults end up dead?" Ducky reasoned. "If Agent Clark knew about them and was responsible for this, she wouldn't have boarded the plane that would have killed her."

Tony glanced over at them with a what looked like a forced grin. "Yeah, Lara's seen 'Road to Perdition' starring Tom Hanks. We watched this one together… he went up against the local mob after they killed his family. Died in the end in his son's arms. Lara wouldn't go on a suicide mission like that," he explained.

"But then _why_?" Bryce asked. "First at Burbank's airport, now here. Both places were where Lara had stopped over. Until Dr. Mallard can determine the time of death, it could be possible that Lara killed these Fulcrum agents before she boarded her suicide plane."

Emma scoffed. "Lara isn't that stupid enough to do that," she argued, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Hey, you okay?" her concerned partner inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "Hey Ducky, when do you think you can determine a time of death?"

"Soon, Miss Parks," he answered, checking temperature, discolouration of skin, and stiffness. "Well… that's rather interesting."

Gibbs walked over to him. "What is it, Duck?" he asked.

"These agents have been dead for no more than 36 hours," he informed. "If Agent Clark actually did this-"

"But there's no way she could have known that the jet was targeted," Ziva argued. "She wouldn't have been able to escape in time before the plane was hit. It would be nearly impossible for her to arrive here in time to kill these men. Plus… what motive would she have?"

"Plus, this is only assuming she's alive," Bryce murmured.

Emma looked puzzled. "But… she can't be. There would be no reason for her to hide if she _was_ alive," she reasoned, feeling the room spin for a moment. _Damn poison's stupid long-term side effect aftershocks,_ she thought irritably, grabbing onto her partner's arm to sturdy herself.

"Hey, are you sure you can really work today?" Gibbs demanded in a somewhat mixed-tone voice, his gaze piercing into her.

"Yeah," she replied uneasily. "I-I just had a rough night's sleep, I guess."

Bryce shot her a concerned look, and she forced a smile up at him. _I'll explain later,_ her eyes told him. But what she actually was thinking was, _Please don't ask me, please don't ask me…_

"We'll have to have them moved to the morgue so I can do a full analysis," Ducky announced, "as well as an identification."

"Boss!" Tony suddenly called, staring at something on the controls, "I think I've got something."

Gibbs walked over, trying to see what his agent had found. "What is it, DiNozzo?"

"Blood, dried," he answered, his green gaze focusing on the tiny specks of red upon the metal controls, "but then look at where the bodies are."

"I think Tony's onto something," Ziva agreed, "there's no way this blood could belong to these dead agents. So it has to belong to the shooter."

"Or shooters," Ducky added. "There's still a possibility that there could have been more than one in the room at the time."

"But…" Tony murmured in wonder, "what if it happens to be Lara's?"

Emma's eyes widened in realization as she thought, _N-No… it can't be…_

* * *

**OMG! What couldn't it be?! Wait till next chapter to find out... which that will probably be updated around the New Years or so.**

**So for now...**

**(early) MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	7. Interrogation 2: CIA Agent Bryce Larkin

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! (And Merry Christmas Eve to others, like me!)**

**This is the next chapter!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Six: Interrogation #2: CIA Agent Bryce Larkin

After the Major Case Response Team, as well as Bryce and Emma, returned to NCIS headquarters, Ducky went to the morgue with the bodies, and the rest of the team was right to work. Gibbs went down to Abby's lab to drop off some evidence and Chuck, Casey and Sarah was awaiting the team at their desks.

"So what have you guys found so far?" Chuck inquired.

"Blood, gun residue, dead bodies, bullet casings, and a possible lead," McGee replied confidently. "And just recently, an unidentified car that was ditched on the side of the road. It might have a connection to the case, and so Abby brought it in."

Tony sighed somewhat enjoying the moment as he leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head. "Just like any typical CSI case, almost like that good episode of CSI Miami where Horatio Caine-"

Ziva thumped him on the back of the head. "That's enough from you," she cut off.

"Now… after that blood is analyzed, this may change this entire case," McGee warned.

"And why would that be?" Sarah asked.

Bryce, Emma, Tony and Ziva exchanged worried glances.

"We think there might be a chance that Lara's alive," Emma told them quietly, causing Team Bartowski to gasp before she added quickly, "We don't want to raise any hopes, but we just think there might be a slim chance. The blood seems not _too_ long ago, just possibly just a few days ago, no more than 3 or 4."

"Ducky and Abby's still on that," Bryce agreed.

"They'll give us an update when they find something," McGee said.

Ziva looked at them. "And what if we find that the blood _does_ belong to Agent Clark?" she asked.

"It'll turn this case upside-down," Tony answered, his eyes hard. "Then we'd have to find where she is, why she faked her death, and what is she trying to do by getting both our teams involved, if that was one of her intentions."

_Would Lara actually do that?_ Casey thought, _If she's alive… why would she not contact me? Or anyone else, for that matter. She wouldn't do something like that… would she?_

Suddenly, the phone on Tony's desk rang. Picking it up, he placed the receiver to his ear and spoke with a cocky grin and a casual tone as he leaned back on his chair easily.

"DiNozzo here," he greeted.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs' voice barked gruffly, causing the senior field agent to snap up in his chair in surprise.

"U-Uh, hi boss," Tony stammered. "What is it?"

"I'm busy helping Abby in the Evidence Garage right now," he explained. "I need you to interrogate Agent Larkin about what he knows about Agent Clark. Take Ziva with you."

Tony was a little nervous, considering he wasn't on interrogation duty unless either the situation saw it fit, or if Gibbs was on the other side of the one-way glass, listening to his interrogation skills. "U-Uh… but boss, you know-"

"_Now, DiNozzo!_" Gibbs snapped impatiently.

"O-On it boss!" Tony responded quickly, hanging up the phone and standing up.

McGee and Ziva grinned at their teammate.

"Rough orders, Tony?" Ziva teased.

"Funny, Ziva… you got to come with me," he mocked sarcastically, looking at Bryce. "You too, Agent Larkin. We'll need to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Agent Clark."

The CIA agent grinned. "What's with the sudden formality, Agent DiNozzo?" he asked as he followed the two NCIS agents. "It's nothing big to be interrogated. I've done it before. Don't be so stiff."

Emma wanted to follow after her boyfriend and partner, but she knew that she would be told to come back anyway. Twiddling her thumbs together nervously, she asked McGee, "What can we do at the moment while we wait?"

"Well… at the moment there isn't much that you, Casey, Sarah and Chuck can do. So… I guess you can all head back to your hotels and we'll give you guys a call if we need help. After all, the hotels are just within a few blocks of here."

"Are you sure?" Chuck asked curiously.

"Yeah, we pretty much have things under control so far," he replied easily.

With a brief goodbye, the four agents left NCIS grounds and returned back to their respective hotels.

----------------

"So…" Bryce sighed in anticipation as he sat down across from Tony, "what do you guys need to know?"

"What's your history with Agent Lara Clark?" Tony began.

"Well… as I've mentioned previously, she was one of my ex-partners, as we both worked for the Central Intelligence Agency," he explained. "We worked together on about… hmm… I'd say, 8 or 9 missions. We were partnered up for about 5 years. Then we were both reassigned."

Tony took a moment to let that information stick to him. "Did she make any enemies during that time?" he asked.

"Yeah," Bryce replied casually. "But of course, they're either captured or dead."

"Where were you last week?" the NCIS agent inquired immediately, unfazed by his definite last answer.

The CIA agent chuckled. "I'd love to tell you, but unfortunately," he said, leaning with his elbows on the table, hands folded under his chin, "but that little piece of information is confidential. If you have a problem with that, you could always just talk to my boss, Director Clark. However, I'm sure he'd be less than impressed if he found out NCIS is accusing one of his top agents of murdering his sister."

Tony blinked. This guy was trying to intimidate him! And… it was slightly working, but he kept on a brave and solemn face. "Did you ever fall in love with Agent Clark during the long time you knew each other?" he continued.

Bryce shook his head, leaning back on his chair. "Nah, she was more like a little sister to me," he responded simply. "She knew how to get under my skin a lot. Quite annoying at times, however, she always had a motive behind it that would help the both of us."

_Hmmm… sounds like Lara all right,_ Tony thought. "When was the last time you spoke to her?" he inquired.

"Well… as CIA agents, we don't get to make a lot of social calls to each other, so I'd say about 8 months ago," he replied. "Any other questions you have for me, Agent DiNozzo?"

-------------

Emma opened the door to her and Bryce's hotel room, walking in, her blue eyes widening as she realized she wasn't alone. Before she could pull out her gun and shout, a blunt force struck her hard in the head, knocking her unconscious almost instantly. Her body hit the carpet with a brief _thump_, her purse dropping from her hand.

Two men dressed in black suits stood over her. Both had sleek black hair, and while one kneeled down to pick up Emma's body and placed her in a body bag, the other pulled out his cell phone.

"Sir, the deed has been done. We will be returning back soon," he announced into the phone. "Yes, we have the subject."

-------------

The phone rang, and McGee picked up the phone. "McGee," he greeted, "ah, yeah boss? Ducky at the morgue? Got it."

Hanging up the phone, the junior field agent hurried over to the elevator to head down to the medical examiner's working area.

"Uh… hey, Ducky, what do have for me?" he greeted.

"Well, Timothy, these men were killed exactly 29 hours ago," Ducky said.

McGee sighed, "So 3 days ago, got it." As he turned to leave, the MD's voice stopped him cold.

"I'm not finished yet, Timothy," he informed sternly.

Carefully retracing his steps, McGee apologized, "S-Sorry, Ducky. What else is there?"

"These men and woman have bruises that show that these people were in a struggle and or a fight before they were shot. These bruises are absolutely amazing, nothing I've ever seen before. Their murderer must have been a highly trained assassin, as only skilled fighters could have only caused astounding damages like these," he explained.

"Thanks Ducky!" Tim said before dashing over to the elevator in excitement.

----------

Back with the others, Tony and Ziva had finished questioning Bryce and returned to their desks. Bryce stood idly alongside them. McGee ran over to them and they looked up at him.

"Hey McProbie, where's Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Emma?" Tony inquired semi-teasingly.

"Oh… I sent them back to their hotels. Told them we didn't really need their help until we called," he replied casually.

Anger burned in Ziva's eyes. "You _idiot_!" she exclaimed in scolding, "What if Gibbs needed to talk to them and ask them questions? Maybe they would have known or recognized someone from any new suspects we may discover."

"A-Ah, s-sorry. I-I should… probably give them a call now to come back," McGee stammered, hurrying to his desk.

Bryce took out his cell phone. "I'll give Emma a call," he said, calling her cell phone via speed dial.

"Hello, Sarah? It's McGee… um… we need all three of you back at NCIS. I kinda… got in a little trouble for letting you guys go like that," Tim said shyly. "Yeah, 'kay, I'll see you guys soon."

"Hmmm…." Bryce muttered, sensing something was wrong as his girlfriend didn't pick up. "That's strange. She carries her cell phone _everywhere_ with her in case I need to contact her. She must probably be asleep or something."

"Do you want to call back in a few minutes then?" Tony suggested.

The CIA agent shook his head. "Nah, I'll head back to the hotel and pick her up. If there's a problem and we get stuck in traffic or anything, I'll give you a call," he replied. "See you guys later."

"Bye," the three NCIS agents chimed as Bryce headed to the elevator and out of sight.

"Well… now that it's just us, let's review what we got," Tony declared.

Gibbs walked over towards them. "Well… DiNozzo, the blood that we found at the new crime scene appears to have complicated things. That blood belongs to Agent Lara Clark, our victim."

-----------

Bryce walked to the hotel room, opening it and taking a step inside. Peering towards the bed, he noticed that it was empty and untouched. Looking down to check whether her shoes may have been removed, he noticed a pool of near-dried blood near Emma's deserted purse.

"Emma?! Emma?! Are you here?!" he called warily after he drew his gun by his side, carefully navigating around the blood as he made sure the entire room was clear.

Holstering his gun, he picked up a tissue and used it to help him pick up a note card on the night table. It read;

"To Agent Bryce Larkin,

We have taken Miss Parks with us,

And she will not _too_ badly be further harmed.

If you wish to see her again,

Keep wishing. The only chance you _will_ see her again,

Is when she's like a doornail.

Regards; the Silent Killers"

_Dammit,_ Bryce swore in his head, _Emma's been kidnapped, and these men won't hesitate to hurt her. For all I know, I may never see her again._

_

* * *

_**Hope you liked it!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! And have a MERRRRYYYY CHRISTMASSSSS!!!!!!!**


	8. Torturous Conditions

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! (and Happy New Years Eve to others!)**

**Here's the next chapter to Chuck Versus NCIS! Please enjoy!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Torturous Conditions

After Bryce called NCIS, they immediately rushed to the scene, investigating what had happened. It was beyond obvious that Emma had been kidnapped, and even more obvious that she had fought back and was injured as a result of it.

Gibbs carefully took a sample of the blood, placing it with the other evidence that would need to be sent to Abby.

"Dammit," Bryce breathed in frustration. "I should have been here with her."

Sarah placed a supporting hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Bryce," she said quietly, "there was nothing you could have done. You were in interrogation at the time."

"Do you think there's a chance that Emma's captors could be tied in to Agent Clark's murderers?" McGee questioned.

Tony sighed, "There's a possibility."

"Have there been any demands from the captors?" Gibbs inquired.

"No," Casey replied, carefully analyzing the note with rubber latex gloves. "All the letter is really saying is that they're not giving her up."

Ziva snatched the note from the Major. "Um… what would the line 'when she's like a doornail' mean?" she queried.

"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'dead as a doornail', Agent David?" Tony answered indirectly.

She looked at him questionably. "I thought it was, 'dead as a doorknob'," she corrected.

He stared at her in disapproval. "Doornail, Ziva, doornail," he argued sternly.

"Ohh…" she mouthed quietly. "I guess my English still needs some working on."

_So true,_ the senior field agent thought.

"We'll have the note sent to Abby for possible fingerprint analysis," McGee said, taking the note from Ziva and placing it in an evidence bag. "Then hopefully we'll be able to find out who these so-called 'silent-killers' are and rescue Agent Parks."

"We'll find her," Bryce said coldly before he walked towards one of the plants hanging near the window. He pulled out a tiny wireless video camera from within the plant leaves and ejected a tiny USB chip from it.

"We can get a visual to see who did this to her," he announced, walking over to a painting and removing it, where it revealed to be a built-in wall safe.

"Whoa," Tony breathed as Bryce unlocked it with a code before it clicked open, the CIA agent pulling out a thin black laptop computer.

As he turned it on, he clicked the USB into the side and immediately began to upload the footage caught within the last 30 minutes.

"Dammit… they must have used one of those electromagnetic disablers," he hissed, as all he had received of footage during the attack was just a disabled screen.

"So we _don't_ have any footage then," Chuck pointed out.

"Agent Larkin, I assume that these men know about you being a CIA agent," Gibbs said. "Are they part of this Fulcrum I keep hearing about?"

He shrugged. "Either that or they work for someone who's eluded my capture before, or they've heard of me," he answered, "I think they're trying to get back at me for something I did to them, or else trying to make me suffer." _But I never imagined that they'd kidnap Emma to do it,_ he added mentally. _If they find out who she really is, they'll kill her immediately. I never wanted to drag her into something like _this_! Dammit Emma, I'm so sorry. Wherever you are right now, please be alright…_

_ -----_

A splash echoed through the dark chamber as a bucket of ice cold water was poured onto Emma's head, waking the unconscious agent as she hung by her hands dangling in chains above her head.

"W-Where am I?" she rasped quietly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness and the figure standing in front of her. Everything was still fuzzy to her, and the concussion she had gotten wasn't helping. "W-Who the hell are you?"

The figure grinned, a needle in his hand, already filled with a strange green liquid. He smiled at her.

"Miss Parks, you should very well know me. I'm from Fulcrum," he said. "Remember that so-called 'crazy man' that you and Bryce Larkin tried to put away? That would be _me_!"

Her eyes narrowed into weak slits in confusion. "W-What? I-I didn't-" she breathed.

He cut her off, slapping her hard across the face before stabbing the needle into her arm, pushing the liquid within into her body, which caused her to scream in pain. Her body instantly dropped limply before he tugged the needle out. Emma's body felt numb, and a screaming pain pulsed in her head.

"W-What did… do?" she mumbled nearly inaudibly.

"It's a drug that will render you helpless, exhausted, disoriented, and all that good stuff," he cackled, turning away and beginning to walk towards the other end of the room.

"D-D-Damn it…" she breathed, trying to twist out of her shackles.

"Try as you will," he smirked. "In any case, Mr. Anderson would like to speak to you regarding Bryce Larkin after you wake up."

Emma found her vision swimming, barely finding the strength to keep her eyes open, as her eyelids drooped heavily.

_D-Damn…_ she thought before drifting into unconsciousness, _Oh Bryce, where are you? You once promised me that you would protect me wherever I was. But where are you when I need you the most?_

_ -----_

"Dammit, we need to find her before its too late," Bryce said irritably.

"They're doing all they _can_, Bryce," Chuck said.

McGee looked up at them. "Uh… sorry to be pessimistic and all, but Agent Larkin is right. If Agent Parks has been taken _just_ to torture Agent Larkin, they wouldn't hesitate to kill her and move on," he agreed, explaining things in a rather pessimistic sense.

Bryce's hard cold eyes met the junior NCIS field agents', causing the NCIS agent to bite back his next pessimistic remark. "In any case, we need to find her. I know she won't tell them anything about me, but whoever they are, they'll probably do whatever it takes to get it out of her," he explained.

"But she's a strong woman, she'll probably be okay," Tony tried to chide in a more optimistic tone.

Bryce nodded. "She's good when it comes to talking," he said, the worried crease in between his eyebrows deepening. "I'm just hoping they won't do anything to her."

"You must really love her," Ziva commented quietly.

"Yeah…" he replied, just as quietly. "We've _got_ to do everything we can."

Gibbs' eyes were glued to his screen as he said, "We'll get her back, Agent Larkin."

----

Hours later, Emma was soon awakening, but she felt entirely disoriented and exhausted.

"Nice to see that you're awake, Miss Parks," a man said.

She still felt too tired to reply, and so didn't bother, instead letting her head fall forwards limply.

"Hmm… it seems you're still not awake," he said, walking over with heavy footsteps.

Through Emma's squinted eyes, she saw something shiny gleam in his hand before feeling a striking pain shoot through her shoulder, a warm liquid flowing from it. Before the pain stopped, alcohol was poured over the wound, pain shooting through her body as she screamed before water was poured over it, dulling the pain. She began to pant in relief of her pain, glaring up at her captor.

The man laughed, stepping into her view to clearly reveal short black hair, sleeked back neatly. Grey eyes, pale skin, high cheekbones and a rather attractive complexion followed. He had on casual blue Denim jeans and a white shirt underneath a black leather jacket.

"So… you're finally awake," he said. "My name is Jack Anderson, and I've been waiting to meet you, Miss Parks."

"W-What do you… what do you want… with me?" she breathed out, glaring at her captor.

He grinned at her. "I heard that you know CIA Special Agent Bryce Larkin. You're the _tool of revenge_," he said. "So after we torture you and everything, tomorrow we will take you out in public as a hostage. After we have all the news and media crews here, with your precious Bryce Larkin watching, I'll kill you, right in front of his eyes. The poor lad will be heartbroken after I kill his lover."

_So that's it…_ she thought grimly. _So there's no hope then… I won't ever see _him_ again… I'm sorry…_

"He'll hunt you down," she spat. "And make sure you suffer for hurting me."

He grabbed her by the throat, squeezing her windpipe as his face was just hovering above hers. "I'm so tempted to kill you right now. But you're so attractive as well… so I'm _also_ tempted to make endless non-stop love to you until you can't move. However, considering the short time frame that we have in between today and tomorrow, I guess everything we _will_ be doing will be strictly all business."

_Ugh… either this guy is messing with my head _just_ because I'm drugged, or else this guy is actually _serious_ and I'm going to have to defend myself from whatever antics he tries on me,_ she thought despairingly as he released hold of her.

"You must be wondering what I'm planning on doing to you," he guessed, even though he was completely wrong. "Well… if you _really_ must know, I got a one word answer for you: _torture._

"Dammit…" she swore quietly, "just leave… me alone… you son of a…"

He shrugged, grinning. "Hey, hey, hey, now, let's not be sour-faced," he said. "Not to mention be completely rude to your gracious host."

She snorted in amusement. "You call _this_ being gracious?" she pointed out. "I wonder what you do to your '_guests'_ that _really_ piss you off. You must probably kill them first before you torture them."

Jack smirked. "Now… you don't honestly think that I'd do something like _that_ now, do you?" he taunted, laughing.

"Well… I can tell that you are extremely smart, considering this was all well-planned," she analyzed.

"Oh you flatter me," he chuckled, grinning.

"But… I know the others will find me and Bryce will stop you from doing this," she hissed in conclusion.

"Oh… well… I thought we were getting somewhere for a moment there," he said, taking a moment to slap her hard across the face. "You've still yet to learn how things work. You're the tool, _I'm_ the playmaker, and Larkin is the puppet." He leaned closer so that his face was just in front of hers. "You know, you're beautiful and all, but I guess you were just unlucky that you were involved with Agent. Bryce. Larkin."

* * *

**Awww... poor Emma. Will Bryce and the gang find her and save her in time?**

**PLEASE REVIEW! (AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!)**


	9. Abby’s Evidence

**Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!**

**Just to let you all know, this will probably be the last update of this story for a while because exams are coming up in a few weeks. So please be patient, and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of Chuck Versus NCIS! **

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading this so far, and I hope you all continue!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Abby's Evidence

"Hey Abby, what do you have for us?" McGee inquired as he brought the forensic specialist her Caf-Pow. Chuck walked in with him.

"Unfortunately, _nobody_ brought me evidence from the hotel room," she accused, taking her favourite beverage from him and immediately sucking on the straw in a little frustration.

"Well… that's only because we know the blood is Emma's, so Bryce told us there was no need to check it," Chuck answered. "And we haven't found any other evidence yet."

Abby slammed the Caf-Pow on the table next to her computer. "That's not good enough, Chuck!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with worry. "McGee, I expect better from you! We've got to find Emma soon! Who _knows_ what could be happening to her right now?!"

"Don't worry Abby, we'll find her," McGee reassured, resting a hand on her shoulder. "What do you have for us?"

"On the disappearance of Agent Parks, nothing, because _no one_ is bringing me evidence to analyze!" she replied, glaring at Tim momentarily before returning her light green gaze to her computer, sighing as she moved cases. "As for the murder of Agent Clark and the compromising evidence at the airport, I managed to ID the four dead agents in the room."

Pulling up the photos, Chuck's irises unfocused as he flashed on all four photos of the dead agents. "Mitchell Liaken, formally wanted for murder and served 16 years, an ex-marine who served for 8 years, worked for Fulcrum; Kerchall Ickman, served 27 years for sexual assault, worked for Fulcrum; Ian Sirdelale, served 18 years for homicide, a Fulcrum agent; Alexa Kiaway, served 16 years for drug trafficking, also a Fulcrum agent," he announced automatically.

Both McGee and Abby stared at him.

"Wow… Chuck, you really _are_ the Intersect," McGee commented.

"SHHH!" Chuck shushed loudly. "You've _no idea_ how much trouble Casey and the rest of us got into for allowing you guys to find out!"

Abby gave him a thumbs up with a huge grin on her face. "Don't worry Chuck, your secret's safe with us!" she assured proudly, "Right McGee?!"

"Uh, yeah," Tim agreed non-enthusiastically.

"McGee!" she whined, her eyes wide at him.

The NCIS junior field agent immediately added with false enthusiasm, "I-I mean, yeah!"

"Anyway," Abby continued, turning back to her computer, "as I was saying and Chuck brought up, these four are discovered to have been working for the mysterious rogue agency known as Fulcrum. The blood found on the controls were a tiny bit contaminated by rust, but it was analyzed as to be belonging to CIA Agent Lara Clark, our victim of the plane crash just over a week ago." As she spoke, she brought up Lara's file.

"But that's impossible, isn't it?" Chuck asked. "She's been confirmed by the NSA and the CIA as dead."

"But you guys never found a body, did you," McGee argued.

The Intersect shook his head. "But no one could have survived that explosion. The entire jet was destroyed, nothing left but plane parts, there's no _way_ a body could be still whole, more or less can be identified."

"Maybe someone's just trying to frame a dead person?" Abby suggested. "Try to raise hopes so we get distracted from hunting this person down."

"Could be," McGee agreed. "But there's also the possibility that Agent Clark faked her death."

_Ooh… wouldn't Casey be overjoyed at that?_ Chuck thought. _Then again, I would be too, as well as probably Sarah, and Bryce. Why wouldn't she let us know she was alive? But it wouldn't make sense, how would she have known that her plane was targeted? _

He decided to voice out his opinion. "But how would Lara have known that her jet was being targeted? There weren't really any signs," he pointed out.

"Well… like I heard from you earlier," Abby began, "_why_ Lara had to go on that jet was sketchy enough. Maybe she figured out that something was wrong and didn't get on."

Chuck nodded slowly before arguing, "But from what the staff at the gates confirmed was that she walked through the gates and boarded the plane."

"Maybe she never _really got on_ the plane," McGee said. "Only pretended that it _looked_ like she did."

"Well… in any case, have you discovered the weapon used to kill the Fulcrum agents?" Chuck inquired.

"Yep," Abby answered with a smile. "It was a Glock 20, a semi-automatic pistol, _and_ the standard gun for CIA agents and most law enforcement agencies, including NCIS. The Glock 20 has a 10mm Auto cartridge, so the most one could fire is 15 rounds, and the bullet casings have already been compared, matched, and confirmed."

"Wait… and Ducky confirmed that there were three bullets in each agent, shot at point blank. Do you think the killer took the gun with them and have the last 3 bullets in their case?" Timothy inquired.

Chuck blinked at them. "But wouldn't the killer have already disposed of the casing and replaced it with a new one?" he argued. "After all… if the killer _is_ a law enforcement agent, they would make sure that the gun that they carry around with them is full."

"Should we tell Gibbs to have someone check all the garbage bins in and around the airport to check for the nearly-empty clip?" Abby asked.

McGee looked at her. "But we're only assuming that the killer disposed of the clip in the airport," he reasoned.

"Unless you want to check all of Washington instead," Chuck said, squinting at the airport map with his mouth agape before noticing that both McGee and Abby were glaring at him. "Oh, um… I'm just saying."

"Well, if you can find me that casing," Abby continued, "I may be able to get a fingerprint off of it and possibly confirm who this mysterious murderer is."

But there was still a single question that nipped at all three of them: what if the murderer of the four Fulcrum agents _was_ Lara Clark?

- - - - - - - - -

_Looking around, Casey wandered around the base of the Eiffel Tower, searching for the CIA asset he was sent to protect, as she was suppose to protect him in return._

_"Dammit, where is she?" he murmured quietly and _very_ impatiently._

_He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and whipped around to see a black-haired young-looking woman wearing black sunglasses. _

_"Hello, John Casey," she greeted softly. "I'm your blind date, Lara Clark."_

Hmm… beautiful,_ he thought, _but probably also deadly, considering she has to be able to protect _me_. Yeah, like _I_ need protecting.

_"So… where are we heading beautiful, beautiful lady?" he inquired, false teasing in his voice. _

_She lowered her sunglasses to reveal dazzling golden eyes before reaching up to whisper in his ear, "Let's head back to the hotel. The place is debugged and is already specially prepared for agents like us."_

_"Please... then… lead the way…" he said, his hand twitching carefully toward his gun. _

_- - - - - - - - -_

_When they arrived in their hotel room, almost instantly they both pulled a gun on each other._

_"So… NSA Major John Casey," Lara declared, her aim steady. _

_"CIA Agent Lara Clark, is it now," he retorted heatedly. "We're both the handlers, _and_ the assets, and we're investigating a drug dealing organization. There should be no need of hostility between the two of us, considering the higher-ups would kill us."_

_Almost instantaneously, they put away their guns and walked towards each other, their faces just inches apart. _

_"Hmm… so our cover is to be a newlywed couple," Casey murmured quietly to her, reaching to stroke her face and caress her cheek. "Do you think we could pull it off?" _

_"Well…" she sighed, gazing up into his eyes. "as they say, 'Practice, practice, practice'."_

_"You _are_ an attractive woman," he commented. _

_Within seconds, their lips met, kissing with false passion, their arms wrapped around each other as Casey tossed her onto the bed, pinning her down to make-out with her. _

_- - - - - - - - _

_"Dammit!" Casey exclaimed, chasing after Lara as they ran through the alley, guns drawn as they chased down several drug and arms dealers. _

_"Casey, wait," Lara said, stopping the NSA agent. "Something's wrong. I need you to stay behind and back me up."_

_"Are you sure?" he asked quietly._

_She nodded, and he withdrew back behind a corner as she carefully proceeded ahead towards the black armoured van, her steps silent. Almost instantaneously, several armed gunmen surrounded her, pointing guns at her as their target Lewis Wraps stepped out from the back of the van, a gun barrel traced on her. _

Dammit, not good,_ Casey thought before hesitating to continue, because he knew that they would threaten her._

_"Drop your weapon," he ordered, and she slowly put her gun on the ground, raising her hands in the air. _

_All of a sudden, Lewis fired two shots, one sinking into her Kevlar short vest, the other one sinking into the side of her lower torso, causing her to drop to her knees with a gasp. Casey tensed, taking a step forward before stopping himself. If he acted now, Lara would surely be killed, and he would have failed his mission and his asset. _

_"You cheating son of a-" Lara was cut off as one of the gunmen knocked her out with a blunt hit to the back of her head. She dropped to the ground, blood spilling from her side. _

_Lewis nodded to his men. "Bring her with us," he ordered as they picked her up and tossed her into the back of the van, the rest of them jumping in while others went around front. _

_While the coast was clear and the van was starting up, hurriedly Casey snuck towards the van, sneaking a tracking device underneath the van before it drove off, Casey chasing after it and shooting at it pointlessly before it vanished out of sight. His asset had been taken from him, but he had a way to find and get her back._

_- - - - - - - - -_

"Hey, Casey," Sarah barked as the major was staring wordlessly at the BOLO statement for Emma. But in truth he had ended up flashbacking to the time when Lara had been kidnapped during their long-term mission in Paris, where they first met.

"Hmm?" he murmured, snapping out of his reverie, icy blue eyes snapping into awareness. "What is it?"

"Are you sure you're alright, Casey?" Bryce inquired.

"Are you 'right as a rake'?" Ziva said, causing them to look strangely at her.

Sarah looked at them. "I think it's 'right as rain', Ziva," she corrected.

"Okay, okay," Tony chided impatiently, sitting up from his laid-back position on his chair, "enough with the idioms." He stood up, walking away from his desk. "I'm going to check up on how Abby, McGeek and Bar'nerd'ski are doing."

"Bar'nerd'ski?" Sarah inquired.

"I guess that's the best he could do with coming up with an insult for Chuck," Ziva said.

Casey shook his head. "Wow… even _I_ can come up with better insults than _that_," he commented.

She looked at the Major, chuckling, "I think _anyone_ could come up with better insults than Tony can."

- - - -

"Okay… but we're only _assuming_ that Lara could be alive," Chuck declared.

"Either that or someone's trying to frame her," McGee added. "The evidence seems pretty convincing that its her."

"But remember that's what we said when that woman's legs were severed and all the evidence pointed to Tony?!" Abby argued. "He was innocent!"

At that moment, Tony walked into the evidence lab. "What about me now?" he inquired.

"N-Nothing…" McGee answered.

"Well… what do we have now McProbie, Bar'nerd'ski?" The senior field agent inquired, slapping both hands onto both their shoulders in union.

"_Excuse me?_" Chuck asked, a little taken aback, "Bar'nerd'ski?"

McGee looked at him. "Ah, Tony does that, you know? Insults anyone that he knows aren't especially able to kill him or have a huge authority or power over his life," he explained, "And he likes to target the really smart ones working with computers, except for Abby, of course."

"Ouch, harsh, McGeek," Tony retorted, emphasizing his point. "So has Gibbs dropped by yet?"

"Nope, still in the Morgue with Ducky," Abby answered. "So what do you want to know, Tony?"

He looked at her and the computer. "What do you have for me, Abs? On either the case of Lara Clark or Emma Parks."_Hmm… that rhymed,_ he thought subconsciously.

"On Emma's case, nothing, cause _certain people_ won't bring me any evidence to analyze," she said, her voice accusing before switching cases and tones. "As for Lara Clark, according to the evidence presented to _moi_, it appears that Lara Clark is the murderer of the four Fulcrum agents in the airport."

DiNozzo's eyes widened. "_What?! _But that's impossible!" he exclaimed, "Lara's dead!"

"However, there is no proof that Lara actually died, considering there's still a possibility that she never boarded that plane," Tim replied. "I went up to MTAC not too long ago and spoke with one of the Navy ships that were investigating, though there were still some remains of the ship, there was not _one_ charred corpse found."

Chuck's eyes widened till the entire eyeballs were nearly seen. "But that means-"

McGee smiled, nodding. "Yep, CIA Agent Lara Clark may be alive."

* * *

**Ooh... dramatic. I apologize if I got Abby's character wrong, as well as the evidence info thing wrong too. I had to do a little research on it myself before I wrote that part. lol. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	10. Nightmares and a Single Phone Call

**Yay! Exams are done, so I have time to update. Things are heating up as time's running out for Agent Emma Parks. Will they be able to find the rest of them in time before its too late?**

**lol... in any case, ENJOY!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

******Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Nightmares and a Single Phone Call

Bryce was really pissed off as for all he knew Emma could already be dead. Knowing that his allies were doing all they could to help him find her, he eventually told them all to go home and sleep and that they'd continue in the morning.

Even as he was given a new hotel room across from Team Bartowski's set, Bryce still couldn't find himself getting to sleep, and was rather pissed off at the thought that the others could possibly sleep knowing that one of their friends were in grave danger.

_Dammit, I shouldn't be so worked up,_ he thought, sighing. _After all, _I_ was the one who told them all to get some sleep. Because I know that if they don't, they won't be able to work well tomorrow morning when we try again. Ugh… I've got to try to get some sleep…_

_- - - - - - _

_Bryce stood in front of a brightly-lit huge warehouse, the NCIS Major Case Response Team and Team Bartowski standing next to him. _

_"DiNozzo, Ziva, take back door," Gibbs ordered quietly. "McGee, you and me take front door. Casey, take Bartowski with you and survey the left side door."_

_"Great… I get the moron…" Casey muttered in annoyance._

_"Suck it up, Major," Gibbs retorted sharply, "Walker, Larkin, take right side door. Call in anything suspicious. Go, go, go!"_

_Immediately, they hurriedly went to their positions, Bryce breathing deep as he and Sarah went to the right side of the warehouse, standing with his back pressed against the wall beside the door next to his ex-partner and ex-lover._

_"Ready?" Sarah whispered._

_He nodded before they both broke down the door, pointing their guns in front of them, surveying the area. The room was completely empty, with cream-coloured walls and two doors on the two opposite sides. _

_Bryce looked at Sarah and nodded towards the right-side door as he headed towards the left. Breaking down both doors, they shouted, "CIA!" _

_All of a sudden, a powerful force pushed Bryce into the pitch-black room and the door shut closed tightly behind him. _

_"Bryce! Bryce!" he heard Sarah scream on the other side, banging on the door loudly._

_"Sarah!" he shouted back, trying to break through the door but failing to do so._

_Now there was no sound coming from the other side of the door any longer, as if something had happened._

_"Sarah? Sarah?!" he called out, but heard no answer._

_Hearing a series of clapping, he turned around, gun pointed, as a spotlight was drawn upon the figure hanging by the hands from a rusty old chain. _

_"Emma!" he gasped._

_The woman didn't stir, blood pouring from various wounds on her body, bruises on her face and hands. Her wrists were raw from the chains, her head hung limply. _

_As Emma's head lifted slowly to look at him, a small smile on her face, four gunshots rang out, and Emma's eyes widened and were filled with pain before her head dropped limply back against her chest. _

_"EMMA!" Bryce screamed, running to try and shoot at the person who had shot her, but whoever was supposedly there had vanished._

_In a hurry, Bryce aimed a steady bullet at the chains, catching her body in his arms and lowering her down against him. _

_"Emma, Emma, wake up," he begged. _

_Weakly, her blue eyes barely fluttered open. "H-Hey… Bryce…" she whispered._

_"Emma, Emma, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I never meant for you to get taken in my place."_

_Her eyes shifted to the true golden that they were. "Bryce, I-I'm sorry…" she breathed, "p-please… tell… Bryce… 'I love him'."_

_Pain glittered in his eyes. "I will, I will," he promised, a single tear falling unchecked. "Please, you can't die."_

_"I love you, Bryce," she whispered. _

_Very gently, she used the last of her strength and leant up to kiss him before she dropped back lifelessly into his arms._

_"No! NO! NOOO!!!!" he screamed, but it was too late. _

_Holding her lifeless corpse against his chest, blood continued to seep into his clothes as he pressed her cold forehead against his cheek, weeping tearlessly for his loss. He found that no tears could come, even for the woman he cared for deeply like a sister, and had fallen in love with as well. He gazed into her pale, lifeless face, only wishing that he had a chance to see those beautiful golden orbs again._

_"Emma, I'm so sorry," he wept. "I'm so, so sorry. I'm so sorry…"_

_- - - - - -_

"Ack!" Bryce choked as he snapped up from his nightmare, his hand at the gun he kept under his pillow. As he realized that it was all just a dream, he rested his hand on his forehead and found his skin tingling hot.

"It was only a dream," he muttered, crawling out of bed to go throw water on his face to calm down. "This is getting a little insane. We'd better find Emma soon, or else I'm not going to be able to make it through these next few nights. I'll be sure to take down those bastards that kidnapped her."

There was a quick knock at his door, and pulling out his gun, he walked over to the door and peered through the peephole to see Sarah on the other side of the door.

"Hey Bryce," she greeted after he opened the door.

"Hey Sarah," Bryce replied, trying to be calm as he put away his gun, "why are you still up this late? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "I'm just worried about you and how you must be taking this," she admitted, gazing into his worried eyes in concern for her ex-lover.

He forced a smile, grinning. " Hey, as long as we find her and she's alive, I'll be fine," he assured. _And as long as no one discovers her secret and my secret of knowing her secret,_ he added mentally. "Sarah, it's alright. Just go back to sleep. I'll be alright in the morning," he lied gently yet convincingly.

"Well okay…" she replied uneasily. "Good night, Bryce."

He dipped his head. "Good night, Sarah."

Bryce quietly went back to his bed before there was another knock at his door.

_Who could it be this time?_ He wondered, his gun still drawn at his side. Peering through, he saw his old college buddy Chuck.

"Ah," he muttered, opening the door. "Hey Chuck. Why are you and Sarah still up so late? Is Casey up too, I suppose?"

Chuck shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure he's probably still confused about Lara's supposed-death, considering we all are. I ran into Sarah on the way here. I guess she was just as worried, I suppose."

Bryce nodded, putting away his gun. "Emma's a CIA agent, she'll do all that she can to prolong them from killing her. But that means we all have to do our best and save her as soon as we can. She'll eventually run out of tricks, and then they'll kill her."

"Well… when we save her, I don't have to exactly… _be there_ when the shooting begins, right?" Chuck asked shyly.

The CIA agent shook his head. "Come on in, Chuck," he invited.

After Chuck walked into the room, Bryce looked around warily before closing the door.

"No, you don't have to be there. You're the Intersect, plus… Sarah will be worried if you place yourself in danger like that," he explained, sitting on the front edge of the bed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chuck reluctantly agreed, sitting down next to him. "She's already hounded me once after I tried to save Lara's life by giving myself up to ransom for the antidote for the AY63 dart. She'd be more than pissed off if I did something like that again."

Bryce decided to let the topic of Sarah go, and looking up at his ceiling. "Hey Chuck, did you ever wonder whether it was true? Lara being alive, I mean," he inquired curiously.

The Intersect sighed, "I don't know. I _want_ to believe she's alive, but… you know how I can be a coward, Bryce. I don't want to think on false hopes."

"Hmmm…" Bryce hummed thoughtfully, "Yeah, you're right. If she's dead, she's dead. Even if she _was_ alive, she would have probably reported back to HQ already. But still… you can't help but wonder…"

- - - - -

The next morning, Team Bartowski (along with Bryce) arrived at NCIS, heading over to the team.

"Morning everyone," Tony greeted easily, sipping at his super-sweetened coffee, "did any of you get any sleep?"

"Not a wink," Bryce answered coldly. "What do we have? Any leads?"

Ziva sighed, "Unfortunately, no. No fingerprints, no DNA, nothing."

Suddenly, the Tony's phone rang.

"DiNozzo," he greeted easily, but suddenly snapped up in his chair from his relaxed posture. "U-Uh… yeah… hold on…"

Immediately, he looked at Bryce. "Bryce, it's for you," he said. _It's the kidnappers,_ he mouthed, and Gibbs turned to Tim.

"McGee, link onto Tony's phone and track the signal," he snapped immediately. "DiNozzo, put it on speakerphone."

Putting the phone down and pressing the speakerphone button, Bryce took a breath and said, "Who is this?"

A deep, obviously masked, voice chuckled, "Agent Bryce Larkin, it's been a while…"

"What did you do with Agent Parks? Where is she?" Bryce demanded.

"Patience, Agent Larkin," the voice said. "After dosing her with Pentothal, she sang like a bird. Or else how else would we be able to get this number?"

Both Bryce and Sarah narrowed their eyes. They both knew it wasn't true, considering all CIA agents –as part of their training, were taught to be able to withstand the 'truth-telling' effects of Pentothal, so it was near impossible for Emma to be able to talk, unless they had dosed her a huge amount that would nearly kill her. But even so… she would refuse to be able to tell.

"In any case, she's alright… for now," the voice continued. "But… she won't be in about less than half an hour."

"Leave her out of this. You want _me_, not her," Bryce argued. "Let her go safely."

The voice chuckled. "As if. I want to see you _squirm_, and _suffer_, like you made me. If you want to know where to find her; listen well. These are your hints; one; a populous area. Two; 'Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain'."

Immediately, Chuck flashed on that single phrase.

"Good luck," the voice declared before hanging up, the phone beeping in disconnection.

Ziva looked at them. "What the hell does _that_ mean?" she inquired.

"McGee, did you manage to get a number?" Casey demanded.

The computer nerd sighed, "Unfortunately not. The line seemed to be super-protected or something. I couldn't even get a _trace_."

Sarah looked at them. "But there's no _way_ Emma would give them Tony's number. All CIA agents are trained to withstand the truth-telling effects of Pentothal," she informed them.

"They must have managed to get Tony's card from her purse or pocket," Gibbs guessed.

Bryce looked gravely at all of them. "We've got to find her before its too late," he informed them. "We need to figure out what the hell those clues mean."

"Guys, guys," Chuck interrupted. "'Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain'. It's often used as a clever code when it comes to entry codes and such. It's a popular memory trick in England."

"What's it mean, Bartowski?" Casey scowled.

"Okay, okay!" he defended, his voice half with fear. "It's a memory trick to remember the colours of the rainbow. I think 'rainbow' is the second hint, along with 'a populous area'."

Immediately, the dots connected for most of them.

"McGee!" Gibbs snapped, "List all the buildings and locations with 'rainbow' here in DC."

"On it, Boss!" he replied, quickly typing it into his speedy database search engine. "Uh… Rainbow Road, Rainbow Street, and that Rain Bow Mall downtown."

"That must be it!" Tony exclaimed. "Rain Bow Mall is really big… height-wise, as in."

Gibbs grabbed his equipment from his desk. "Gear up! We're heading there now!"

Sarah and Casey turned to Chuck.

"Chuck, stay here," Sarah ordered. "This is going to be dangerous. We can't let you put yourself in danger."

"But I want to save Emma too!" he exclaimed. "I can't just stay here knowing that the both of you are in danger, as is everyone else!"

"You're a good person, Bartowski, but we've gotta do our jobs," Casey said quickly.

"Weren't you the one that said you didn't want to be there when the shooting began?" Bryce scolded, "Well trust me, there's going to be _a lot_ of shooting going on here."

"He's right, we have to secure the area and rescue the citizens inside the mall," Ziva agreed.

Tony looked at Chuck and added in, "Go down and find Abby. Let her know where we're going and then both of you keep us updated if something else comes up."

Before Bartowski could argue, they had already all dashed off to the elevator, fully prepared and eagerly awaiting to get their friend and comrade back, especially Bryce. Now all they hoped was that they weren't going to be too late.

* * *

**Oooh... things are REALLY going to heat up in the next chapter. Will they be able to save Emma in time? Or will she be lost to them... forever?**

**PLEASE REVIEW! (and I'll try to update hopefully before the beginning of February, as a new semester starts for me.)**


	11. Rescue Mission

**~Kya! Dramatic rescue mission! Can't wait! Plus... there will be one more disclaimer, but that will be placed at the END of this chapter so it doesn't spoil anything. KYA!!!!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!**

**********Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Ten: Rescue Mission

Nervously, both Abby and Chuck were in her lab, having one of her screens on with the news.

"We're following now live outside Rain Bow Mall, where it appears that a group of men entered the building with an injured woman and guns. We're hearing that this is a hostage situation going on," the female reported informed. "Watch as this situation continues to unfold, here live, at Rain Bow Mall."

"Oh… I hope those guys are going to be okay," Abby said in a worried tone.

"I hope so too," Chuck agreed with a sigh.

- - - -

"So… what's the plan?" Tony inquired.

"Go in, rescue Emma, and kill the people that took her in the first place," Ziva replied.

Casey glared. "It's never as easy as that," he scoffed. "Of course some citizens will get shot too if it _that's_ the best plan you can come up with."

"All that matters is that we have to save her," Sarah argued.

"Our job is to save Agent Parks," Gibbs announced.

Bryce's eyes became icier. _I'll make _sure_ to save her,_ he thought determinedly. _I will do everything I can to save her._

"We need to figure out who kidnapped her," McGee added.

"_And_ get her back," Bryce finished. "No matter what."

- - - -

Quietly, Team Bartowski and Team Gibbs got themselves armed up after they arrived at the scene outside Rain Bow Mall.

"Let's hurry," Bryce said finally, "Emma's waiting for us."

Tony sighed, "Well… we pulled some strings so that we go first instead of the Hostage Negotiations Team, so we're pretty much going in without backup."

"Maybe that's a good thing though," McGee argued. "Otherwise they might just bother to kill her before we can get her out of their hands."

Gibbs nodded. "McGee's right," he agreed. "DiNozzo, Ziva, you take the far left entrance, McGee, you and I will take the far right. Major, you take the inner left, Agent Walker, take the right. Agent Larkin, you're taking center. Now… let's go."

- - - -

"Why am I here?" Emma murmured, "How did I get myself in this position?"

Jack Anderson's right hand man, Thurston Nomiss, tightened his grip around her, his gun barrel pressed firmly against the side of her head. They stood in front of a huge giant white pillar that reached to the ceiling, shielding them from any back assaults. "Now now," he chided, "we've _been_ through this before. I'm sure Jack made this very clear to you already. You know I won't kill you, unless you do something stupid, or I'm given the orders. You're no good to us dead, remember?"

Sighing, Emma remained her ground, knowing there wasn't anything she could do. She was exhausted, poisoned, and she had to put up with some guy holding her hostage though she wasn't even the target: Bryce was… and here she was, taking the fall for it. Plus… before taking her as a direct hostage, he had shot her through the shoulder, and the wound was bleeding heavily. The only thing helping her stand up was Thurston holding her up.

She looked around and glanced at the 5 armed gunmen around them, standing in a semi-circle around the two.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and immediately all guns (except for Thurston's) pointed towards the source, and a voice suddenly called gruffly, "Let Agent Parks go! As well as all the other hostages you've taken!"

_Gibbs…_ Emma thought immediately.

"Not to worry," Thurston replied, "the other hostages are all safe, and we'd be glad to let them go. We find that only Emma is the most important of our hostages."

She rolled her eyes. She was rather annoyed, but it was hard for her to think straight, as the poison in the Pentothal was making her woozy.

"What do you want?" Ziva demanded.

He smiled. "Of course, it's not Emma that we've wanted all along," he said. "Bryce Larkin. Where _is_ the fine agent? Isn't he concerned that his precious girlfriend is already injured?" Pressing on the gunshot wound, Emma let out a weak cry in pain.

"Okay, okay!" Bryce called, "Stop hurting her! I'm here, I'm here!"

Slowly, both teams stepped out from their spots, having their guns drawn and pointed threateningly the men, and the gunmen didn't respond, still keeping their machine guns slinging against their sides, but holding onto them.

"Emma, are you okay?" Sarah inquired.

Weakly, Emma tried to nod.

"Ohh… the poor girl," Thurston sighed, "poisoned with Pentothal."

"What do you want, anyway?" Bryce demanded. "I'm here, but what do you want with me?"

The hostage taker sighed, "Well… there's this little deal that my buddy wants. _You_ suffer, and _he_ wins."

Emma closed her eyes, trying to think of anything that may give her friends an edge over the others. Maybe some sort of distraction even… but what could help? Something that can't reveal anything to her enemies, but a secret message to her friends.

Thurston pressed the barrel of his gun against the wound in her shoulder, and she winced in pain.

"Dammit," Gibbs muttered under his breath. _This guy wants to see Bryce squirm,_ he thought. _No matter what, they'll kill Emma. Emma will die in any case._

Emma winced again, but an idea popped into Tony's head.

"Last scene!" he said suddenly, and instantly all of the others were confused.

"What the hell are you blabbering about, DiNozzo?" Casey growled.

Gibbs risked a brief glance at his agent. "That would be 'last chance', DiNozzo," he corrected.

"No, last _scene_!" Tony argued, holding firm.

_A movie reference, Tony? This is the _worse_ time! _Ziva thought, _This is a life or death situation here!_

Thurston chuckled, looking at Emma. "If _these_ are the kind of friends you have, you're insane," he commented.

Tony kept his eyes trailed at Thurston, but his question was directed at Emma. "Live free? Or die hard?"

_W-What the hell?!_ Emma thought, _What the hell is he talking about?_

Tony looked Emma directly in the eyes. "Live free? Or die _hard_?" he repeated.

Bryce glanced briefly at Tony, his eyes filled with question. _What the hell is he talking about? Why does that sound so familiar… like a _movie!

Emma suddenly realized what Tony was talking about. Immediately, she grabbed Thurston's hand and forced him to pull the trigger, a muzzle cracking as a bullet pierced through Emma's shoulder once more… except this time, the bullet also pierced into Thurston's shoulder. The force of the impact caused Thurston to crash back against the white pillar behind him and collapse, knocked out.

Immediately after Emma had forced Thurston to pull the trigger, Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Bryce, Sarah and Casey fired at the other gunmen, who were too slow to react. Within moments they had been taken out, and Emma sighed heavily, still holding onto the gun in her hands, now bleeding even heavier from her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for making you all worry, guys," Emma apologized with another sigh.

Suddenly, she saw the glimpse of a gunman's optimal telescope and immediately shouted, "Guys get down!"

Right as the others ducked while she aimed the gun, it was already too late…

Several bullets ripped through Emma's body, piercing through her lower torso, as well as one piercing through her lung. Crimson rippled across her vision, and she collapsed back against the white pillar, blood surrounding the new wounds. Feeling extremely exhausted, she began to slip unconscious… right as Gibbs and the others killed the shooter.

Emma's bleeding, broken body began to slip, blood stained the white pillar, contrasting how bad the wound was. Weakly, she slumped, and Bryce rushed to her side, taking her half-dead body into his arms.

"Emma! Emma! Wake up!" he exclaimed. "Stay with me, okay?"

"We need paramedics in here, stat.," McGee said.

Weakly, her azure blue eyes fluttered, staring at the CIA agent.

"B-B-Bryce…" she rasped. Speaking and breathing hurt, and blood streamed from her lips.

"Shhh… don't speak," he advised, noticing that her blood was soaking up quickly into his clothes, turning into a pool around them. "You'll be okay."

She slowly blinked at him, her eyes closing a little more every time.

"Agent Larkin," Gibbs addressed. "You, Agent Walker and Casey stay here until paramedics arrive. Tony, McGee, Ziva, come with me."

Bryce kept his focus on Emma's paling face. "Come on, Agent Parks, stay with me," he urged. "There's still _him_ you need to speak to, remember? You need to let him know, so you can't die yet."

"I-I just want to sleep," she murmured, her eyes beginning to close.

"Emma! Emma!" Bryce exclaimed, "come on! Stay awake with me!"

Closing her eyes completely, Emma's head tilted limply towards Bryce's chest, the CIA agent feeling panic and fear begin to rise in his heart. It was his fault that she had been submersed into a sea of pain.

"Dammit Emma… you can't die," Bryce urged. "There's still _him_ you've got to live for. And there's _me_. I care about you too. Hold on…"

* * *

**OMG! Who knew Tony's movie quotes could actually SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE?! Wow. **

**Now... if you've watched the Bruce Willis movie Live Free or Die Hardyou'd see where this fit in. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't, but I suppose you can imagine what happened. **

**So now... Disclaimer: Live Free or Die Hard (c) Michael Fottrell.**

**It may take a while before my next update... but until then...**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!**


	12. Saving Her

**OMG, such a dramatic cliffy from the last chapter. **

**Well... hopefully this chapter can meet with you readers' standards. .**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak  
: NCIS (c) Donald Bellisario**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Saving Her

"Bryce…" Sarah began quietly, but hesitated as Bryce continued to hold Emma's bleeding, dying body in his arms as the paramedics began to approach with a gurney.

Carefully, the paramedics lifted Emma's body and began to roll her out speedily, and Bryce stared hard after them.

"Don't you wanna go with them?" Casey inquired.

The CIA agent shook his head. "Let's go, we need to finish this. This guy wants me, and I'm going to take him down for what he's done to her," he promised in a dark, grave voice.

"Bryce, are you sure?" Sarah asked in concern. "You're getting too emotionally involved with this."

"No, I can do this," he argued firmly. "I _have_ to do this; for her."

Casey nodded in agreement. No words were needed. He knew where Bryce was coming from, considering he himself wanted to get revenge for Lara's death.

"Then let's get going before Agent Gibbs does what _I_ want to do; take out this damn bastard," Bryce stated angrily, cold rage burning in his eyes.

Immediately, the three of them began heading after the others.

_This is bad,_ Sarah thought worriedly, _Beckman once told us that we should never get personally and emotionally involved with our missions. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Bryce is doing. If he gets a clouded mind, he's going to have bad judgement, and if he has bad judgement, he might end up doing something incredibly rash._

"Hmm… they must have really gone far ahead," Casey grumbled as he glanced around.

Suddenly, they heard gunshots, and they quickened their pace, their firearms at their sides.

"Hmm… sounds like the fun's already begun," Casey commented under his breath.

As they got closer to the sounds, Gibbs' team was in sight, and the three government agents joined them in their hidden positions.

"'bout time you guys got here," Tony noted with a grin before his smile disappeared as he grew serious. "How's Emma?"

"Don't know," Sarah answered, "we immediately came here after she was taken by the paramedics."

Gibbs glanced over at Bryce as he muttered to Casey, "How is Agent Larkin doing?"

"Not well," the NSA agent responded. "Think he's currently driven by revenge. He wants to take this guy _out_, and Walker is worried that his need for revenge might overcome his better judgement."

"We've got bigger problems on our hands," Ziva said, her back pressed firmly against the pillar she was hiding behind with Tony and Sarah.

"McGee, how many?" Bryce inquired, hate and rage still burning in his eyes.

"We're still not sure," he answered. "more keep coming out every few that we take down. I'm starting to think that maybe there are more of them than we thought there were. Maybe there was another entrance that Abby forgot to tell us about."

Gibbs shook his head. "I don't think she'd overlook something as important as that," he said. "Maybe they already had people placed inside some of the stores before plotting this entire charade."

Eventually, they managed to take down all of the men, and proceeded to continue deeper into the mall, even warier than usual.

"How nice of you to come, Agent Bryce Larkin," a voice declared, and Mr. Jack Anderson stepped out from behind the stone pillar he was hiding behind. Strange thing was: he was unarmed. "So… you've rescued Miss Parks already, why still come after me?"

"Cause you're the one who tried to have her killed in the first place!" Bryce hissed with his gun trained on him, his finger just begging to pull the trigger.

"Easy, Agent Larkin," Gibbs chided softly. "He will try to make you kill him immediately so you can't torture him later. Don't give in to his antics."

Jack Anderson grinned. "Did you know how good to felt to indulge in her screams of pain when we tortured her?" he taunted. "I also planned for other things, but of course, we didn't have that sort of time. Heh, you should have seen her squirm, Larkin. You should have seen the _pain_ burning in her eyes as I tortured her."

"Dammit, shut up!" Bryce nearly screamed.

"You work for Fulcrum, right?" Sarah called. "Who sent you?"

Jack grinned at Sarah easily. "You're pretty sexy for a law enforcement officer," he commented. "You should be in Fulcrum. We could really use a girl like you."

"Thanks, I'll pass, now answer the question," she snapped hastily.

He sighed, "Fine, fine, obviously I work for Fulcrum. Who sent me, well… I sent _myself_. It's a score to settle with Bryce Larkin, so a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do."

"So you kidnapped Miss Emma Parks as revenge against Agent Larkin," Gibbs said.

"And I've no need to resist capture, after all, I _have_ won," Jack agreed. "Miss Parks is going to _die_ anyway."

Bryce's eyes burned with cold rage and fury. "No she isn't! She's going to survive!" he howled.

Jack sighed, "The only regret before I go to jail is that I didn't kill that girl while I had the chance."

That did it. Bryce squeezed the trigger and shot Jack Anderson in the leg, causing him to cry out as he dropped down to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Take him," Gibbs ordered, and Ziva and McGee went to arrest the man. He looked at Bryce. "Feel a little better after shooting him, Agent Larkin?"

Bryce sighed, lowering his gun. "Not really, but it helps," he replied. "I just hope that Emma's doing alright."

"Well… we _do_ have a little time," Tony said, looking at Gibbs, "right Boss?'

He nodded. "You should go, Larkin, check on Agent Parks," he advised softly.

_I'd like to say something,_ Tony thought, _but I know I shouldn't. I'm thinking of saying, "if it doesn't seem like Emma's going to recover and she's asking to die, don't do something like what happened in the movie Million Dollar Baby with Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank." But… that would seem to be like a bad idea, considering Bryce's current mood right now._

Bryce sighed, "Even if I _did_ go, there would be nothing I could do. Her injuries were very severe. She'd still be in surgery. All I can really do to help her now is to take down the man that did that to her, and I have, with all of your help, so there's nothing I can do now."

"Save her," Casey grumbled. "Let her know you're there for her. It's the only way you can help her without _actually_ helping her."

Everyone stared at the NSA Major, a little surprised and shocked by the words coming from his mouth.

"What?" he mumbled, "I have my moments too."

Bryce sighed, "Maybe you're right, Casey. Either way, I'll head over to the hospital first to see how she's doing. Hopefully she's going to be alright."

"Casey and I will come with you," Sarah offered. "Hopefully Emma will be okay."

xXx

"McGee, where are you?" Abby shouted into the phone.

"We're still at Rain Bow Mall," he responded on speakerphone. "Can you please stop shouting, Abby?"

"Hey, hey, is Emma okay?" Chuck implored, "Did you guys manage to rescue her?"

There was a brief moment of silence as McGee pondered what to tell Abby and Chuck.

The moment of silence seemed to agitated Abby a little more. "Tim, is Emma alright?"

"I'm afraid not," McGee answered. "We successfully managed to get her out of their grasp, but then she was shot several times. The bleeding was bad."

Both of their eyes widened.

"W-Where is she now?" Chuck demanded. "Is Bryce with her right now?"

"She was taken to the hospital, but Bryce, Casey, and Sarah just went there," Tim explained. "We've arrested the kidnapper, Jack Anderson, and after he's been treated, we're going to do a brief interrogation before giving him over to the police."

"Wait… you said 'treated'," Abby noticed. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Well… Bryce kinda got mad and he well… uh… shot him."

"What?" they exclaimed.

"Look, I'll explain later," McGee said. "We're working with police right now while they take over this case. Right now, you two head over to the hospital and meet with Bryce and the others. We'll be en route there soon."

Abby bit her lip. "Okay, thanks McGee," she replied before hanging up. She looked at Chuck. "We've gotta go to the hospital, Chuck!"

"Uh, yeah, let's go!" he responded. "We probably need to hurry. I'm sure Bryce is really, _really_ worried about her."

xXx

Bryce paced back and forth in front of the emergency room nervously, Casey standing against the wall while Sarah sat down on the bench, nervously twiddling at her fingers.

A nurse came out with a sigh, her scrubs with blood on it.

"Nurse, how is she?" Bryce demanded immediately.

She sighed, "She's in critical condition, I'm afraid." She looked at him. "Are you Bryce Larkin?"

He nodded.

"Dr. Lenard has taken care of the more serious wounds, however," the nurse explained, "now it's all up to Miss Parks. It all depends on how strong her will is to live. She could still die at any given moment."

"No!" Bryce snapped abruptly. "She _can't die_! She's not going to!" He was heading towards the doors to the emergency room, but the nurse hurried in front of him, trying to push him back.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't go in there right now," she told him, and Casey helped pull the CIA agent back. "Dr. Lenard is still performing surgery. There are still more wounds that need to be taken care of."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Sarah implored worriedly, knowing how much she seemed to mean to Bryce.

The nurse gazed at them with sad brown eyes. "I'm afraid we can do nothing but wait."

* * *

**O_O**

**CLIFFY! Will Emma make it? OMG.**

**Hmmm... let's see, do YOU guys want her to make it? Tell me in a review whether Emma's gonna live or not. We shall let the reviewers decide whether Emma should survive or not. Either way will work for me because of... well... REASONS. mwahaha. lol.**

**Anyway, till next time!**

**PLEASE REVIEW**


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